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UK Budget Balancer

If you were Prime Minister, how would you balance the UK's books? Adjust taxes and government spending to see how your decisions affect the deficit or surplus.

Baseline Government Income
£1,304bn
2026–27 baseline
Baseline Government Expenditure
£1,416bn
Total managed expenditure
Your Surplus / Deficit
−£112bn
Deficit
Economic growth / decline
Adjust the size of the economy. Growth increases government receipts; decline reduces them.
0%
−10%No change+10%
Reduce all government expenditure
Apply a blanket reduction to discretionary spending. Debt interest is excluded.
0%
0%30%

Government Income

Adjust taxation and other government receipts.

Government Expenditure

Decide where the government should spend more or less.

About this calculator: This is a scenario calculator rather than a Treasury forecasting model. The income baseline uses the Office for Budget Responsibility's March 2026 forecast for 2026–27. The spending breakdown uses HM Treasury's published 2026–27 functional allocation, with social protection split into illustrative sub-categories. Changing a tax rate does not attempt to predict behavioural responses, changes in employment, tax avoidance, economic growth or other second-order effects. Figures are rounded and intended to illustrate the choices involved in balancing the UK's public finances.