Budget 2023

Brian Keegan: Timing is everything as a new tax report lands in our midst

The findings of the current Commission on Taxation and Welfare come at a moment where inflation is rampant, and they could well prove to be a harbinger of impending economic mayhem

A key imperative of Budget 2023 is to look after citizens and businesses whose livelihoods are being crippled by energy costs and inflation. Picture: Fergal Phillips

What is the best early predictor of economic chaos? Is it a slump in GDP, or a surge in inflation or interest rates, or perhaps a dip in the purchasing managers index? In this country, it may be the establishment of a Commission on Taxation.

While the findings of the current Commission on Taxation (and Welfare, to give it its full title) have been seeping out in the press in the past few days, its ...