Tories pledge end to 'stealth' tax

"Stealth taxes" would be made illegal under the next Tory government, shadow chancellor George Osborne said today.

In a bid to exploit government humiliation over the 10p tax row, Mr Osborne signalled that he would change the law to ban "rabbits out of the hat" from future Budgets.

Under the plans recommended by former chancellor Lord Howe, any changes to tax law with technical content will have to be published no later than the pre-Budget report - at least four months before a Budget.

Chancellor Alistair Darling has been forced into U-turns on policies - capital gains tax, "non-dom" foreigners and the 10p tax band abolition - produced as surprise flourishes in Budget and pre-Budget reports.

Mr Osborne claimed that Labour has also presided over a raft of tax reforms without spelling out the downsides: in 1997 Gordon Brown unveiled pension changes which effectively took £5 billion out of the economy every year. A new joint Parliamentary committeewould improve scrutiny of proposals and an Office of Tax Simplificationwould streamline the tax code.

Mr Osborne said: "There would be a restraint on last-minute decisions but it will lead to better decision making. This will also make stealth tax-raising much more difficult."

City minister Kitty Ussher said the plan was "absurd". "It would prevent your ability to make emergency changes in a Budget. That would be pretty dangerous," she said.