We need a magic tax relief

The trick is to lower tax in one area in such a way as to boost it in another, writes Brian Keegan.

Taxes don’t flow evenly into the exchequer coffers.

Even though we are half way through the year, that doesn’t mean half of the taxes for the year have been paid. Over the past few years there has been a pattern in the end of June exchequer returns suggesting that, normally by now, about 45 per cent of the tax for the year has been paid.

If such a pattern has any predictive value, ...