Brian Keegan: The budget costs of cutting Vat and income taxes

In all likelihood we will see a balancing act on budget day between income tax reductions and reductions in Vat and excise

Reducing tax on fuel and other items benefits everyone across the board but comes at a very high price. 

The Summer Economic Statement published last week was never going to offer much in the line of specifics as to what the Government might do in the next budget but it does provide the headline figure for the tax relief to be allocated next September: That figure has been penciled in at just above €1bn.

We haven't seen so much money set aside for tax reliefs since before the crash of 2008.