FREE now SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Make the most of your money by signing up to our newsletter fornow We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

National insurance, death duties and council tax were among 20 levies on households and businesses which they argued should be abolished. And income tax should be slashed to a flat rate of just 15 per cent for most earners, said the Institute of Economic Affairs blueprint. “Lower taxes would lead to higher growth,” the think-tank’s report states.

EXPRESS The plans could slash some of the UK's most hated taxes

“Employment, productivity and wage levels would rise.” Tory MPs are already urging Chancellor Philip Hammond to use Brexit as a golden opportunity to restructure the economy. He is already under pressure from colleagues to cut taxes in his Autumn Statement later this month. The hugely ambitious proposals for a revolutionary overhaul of Britain’s tax system come from a group of highly regarded economic experts including Patrick Minford, a former adviser to Margaret Thatcher.

GETTY MPs are urging Philip Hammond to use Brexit to restructure the economy

Their report follows an in-depth study of the size of the state by a team of economists led by the think tank’s research director Philip Booth. Mark Littlewood, director general of the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: “The economic evidence is clear – spending is far too high and the tax system is far too complicated.

Spending is far too high and the tax system is far too complicated Mark Littlewood of the IEA

“This new report provides a rigorous approach to discovering and documenting the size of the state and how government spending and regulation affect the wider economy. “But, most importantly, the authors have undertaken an original statistical analysis of the economic costs of high taxes and which of those are the most pernicious.

“It provides a manifesto for how to create a lasting legacy of an economy with lower and simpler taxes that will boost prosperity for all.” Among other taxes identified for abolition in the document were capital gains tax, business rates, the television licence, the apprenticeship levy, alcohol and tobacco duties, and vehicle excise and air passenger duties.

GETTY The proposals aim to improve fortunes for all

All property levies including stamp duty, council tax and inheritance tax should be scrapped because they are inefficient, the report said. The authors argued that government spending was far higher in the UK compared with other countries including Switzerland, Australia and Ireland. Other nations were able to provide “significant” welfare systems at a much lower cost than Britain. Proposals in the report included: lA flat-rate income tax set at 15 per cent of income above a personal allowance of around £10,000.

Distributed corporate profits would also be taxed at the same rate under the plan. VAT set at 12.5 per cent with most exemptions abolished. lA new housing consumption tax on rents and imputed rents to mimic VAT at 12.5 per cent. A new location land-value tax. lFuel duty retained at around half the current rate. The authors estimated that implementing the package would mean tax cuts worth 26 per cent of gross income for the poorest 10 per cent of households in the country.

GETTY The report suggested that lower taxes could encourage economic growth

The proposals are likely to be seen as “blue-sky thinking” designed to push the boundaries of the debate about tax policy rather than a plan that can be put into action by the Treasury immediately. But many Tory MPs are likely to be sympathetic to the overall aim of simplifying the tax system and boosting the economy by easing the burden of taxes on households and businesses. James Cleverly, convenor of the Free Enterprise Group of Tory MPs, said: “Brexit does give us the opportunity – some would say the necessity – of having a serious look at our tax policy.

Brexit aftershocks: Who's next to leave the EU? Wed, September 14, 2016 Britain has voted to leave the EU. So who's next? We look at which European countries want to hold their own EU referendum. Play slideshow Express 1 of 10 Frexit, Nexit or Auxit? Who will be next to leave the EU