North Kildare Chamber has today (28/11/11) said that given ongoing softness in Retail Sales data it is highly unlikely that Government revenue targets of EUR670m in the event of a 2pc VAT increase in Budget 2012 will be realised. The prediction was made following the release of latest CSO retail sales data.
The volume of retail sales (i.e. excluding price effects) increased by 0.1% in October 2011 when compared with September 2011 and there was an annual decrease of 3.8%. Speaking this morning Allan Shine, North Kildare Chamber Chief Executive said, “While consumer spending has improved marginally since September 2011, it is still down on October last year. Government needs a more realistic approach to analysing the impact of mooted tax changes such as VAT,” Shine concluded.