Retail spending to fall at least 6%
The IBEC-affiliated body — which represents members of the retail trade and had called for a reduction in the 21.5% VAT rate to 20%, in its pre-Budget submission — yesterday expressed disappointment that the rate is to remain unchanged for the foreseeable future. It did, however, welcome the fact that no further excise duty was placed on alcohol — another of the items on its pre-Budget wish list.
“We fully accept that the minister had to do something in order to balance the books and while a reduction in the VAT rate to 15% — to bring it in line with the British rate — would have been ideal, we knew that wasn’t a realistic possibility. But this Budget will hit disposable incomes and there will be a hit on consumer spending patterns,” Retail Ireland director Torlach Denihan said yesterday.
