Sir, – Raising VAT while maintaining the cash value of pensions, social security, civil servants’ pay, etc, is in effect a real reduction in the incomes of the recipients of those benefits.
Rather that raise VAT, the Government should reduce VAT, and since the cost of living would thus reduce, they could justify equivalent reductions in expenditures on those “untouchables” without actually reducing their real value.
This would have many benefits: stimulating the economy, reducing costs of living thus improving competitiveness, reducing the incentives to “cross the Border”and reducing our high costs for tourists, thus encouraging more visitors. Jobs would be protected, or increased. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Could we just go with the Fianna Fáil budget for 2012? After all, we went with the 2011 budget and it was the right thing to do by all accounts. It’s available on the FF website and looks better than the horror stories leaking from the Government. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Our December 2009 budget brought our excise duties on alcoholic beverages down towards the UK rates in order to alleviate cross-Border losses.
There are now pre-budget rumours of increases in our excise duties so as to increase the price of alcohol. Given our common land border with Northern Ireland we cannot afford to have markedly different indirect tax policies. A 23 per cent rate of VAT already poses a threat. Increases in our excise duties, already high by EU standards, will benefit nobody except NI traders and UK government revenue – while adversely affecting the local trade, consumers, inflation and tourism.
Incidentally, in order to avoid artificially low prices for alcohol the ban on below-cost selling of alcohol, removed in 2005, should now be reinstated. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The proposed sugar tax is altogether too simplistic a solution to the health crisis we face. Collectively we should take the advice of Michael Pollan: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” When shopping ask yourself: would my great-grandmother recognise this as food? – Yours, etc,