This week's VAT reduction means you can now save a further £600 off the price of a television set. The Sharp 60-inch rear projection television, taking pride of place in Brown Thomas, Grafton Street's audio-visual section, totes a price tag of £60,000.
With 10 per cent off already in the winter sale, the further 1 per cent reduction makes it a steal for those with the larger living room.
Slightly less pricey, the nearby Loewe plasma screen television has a price tag of £18,000. Less VAT means a reduction of £180.
Downstairs, there are lesser savings on Chanel No.5, with a VAT reduction of £1.38 on a 30 ml bottle of perfume.
Across the street, Marks and Spencer sports a large notice at the entrance to its wine section stating that prices have been lowered in accordance with the VAT reduction.
In the wine section in Dunnes Stores, St Stephen's Green Centre, the supervisor is clutching a fistful of new price tags.
He says the average saving on a bottle of wine is less than 10p while a can of beer is now a penny cheaper.
In the Camera Centre, Grafton Street, a Leica spotting scope, £1,200, is now £12 cheaper. The sales assistant says the till is reset to 20 per cent, from 21 per cent, for hardware, but the average saving is only the price of a pint.
Awareness of the VAT reduction seemed high among retailers.
But consumers should watch the price tags carefully. The reduction in the top rate of VAT, from 21 per cent to 20 per cent, came into force on January 1st.
The Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Mr Tom Kitt, has urged consumers to be vigilant.
"The reduction in VAT was introduced by the Government with the intention of benefiting consumers . . . it would be wholly unacceptable if retailers, including publicans and restaurateurs, were to retain for themselves something that was clearly intended by the Government to be passed on to consumers," he said.
The Minister warned retailers the Government would be watching the situation carefully and would be influenced in responding to calls for reductions in VAT in the future by the extent to which retailers honoured their obligation to cut prices. VAT at 21 per cent was levied on a range of goods from artificial flowers to alcoholic drinks to audio-visual equipment, and on bathroom fittings, binoculars, buckets and buttons. For a full alphabetical listing of VAT rates levied on more than 2,500 goods, visit www.revenue.ie