Stealth taxes - the only people who love them are opposition politicians and Department of Finance number-crunchers. The former get welcome ammunition for attacking the Government, while the latter get even more welcome lolly to help balance the public finance books.

Both parties have been getting their fill of such delights over the past couple of years, as more and more indirect taxes have been eating into the wallets of Irish consumers.

The list is, at this stage, a long one that began to build with a vengeance in the 2003 budget.

The additional charge that grabbed most headlines at this stage was a new, higher stamp duty on bank cards that would raise an estimated €42.5 million for the Exchequer each year.

These bank card taxes have all the qualities that a good stealth tax should include - they hit people for a relatively low amount of money and are easy to collect. They may generate a bit of upset when introduced but, before long, the charge is absorbed, accepted and forgotten.

The problem, of course, is that there is a limit on the number of additional taxes that can be imposed without raising the ire of the general populace and damaging Government appeal.

And, as consumers reach a point where, within a two-year period, they have shrugged off not only higher banking charges but also more expensive electricity, healthcare, education, alcohol, cigarettes, road tax, waste disposal, passports, commercial rates and new taxes on benefits in kind, questions must be asked on how much more can be borne this time around.

The bottom line in such judgments will always be an assessment of how much revenue is needed to pay for the Exchequer's spending promises.

In other words, a generous package on the income-tax side could be expected, buoyant public finances or not, to have its reflection in new or higher indirect taxes. As could generous social welfare increases.

The most recent evidence of this balance came in last week's Book of Estimates, when the Minister for Health, Ms Harney, announced €70 million in new measures to deal with pressure on accident and emergency (A&E) departments.

On the flipside of this was an additional €50 million to be raised through new charges, such as raising the fee for A&E attendance by €10 to €55.

Everything has to be paid for somehow, you might say.

The 2005 Budget, due in less than a week, is expected to include shades of the same principle, with a number of areas seen as targets for new or additional indirect taxes. Hints of this are already emerging outside the Budget itself, with higher bin charges for Dublin the most recent example of consumers being hit on everyday expenses.

Mr Alan McQuaid, chief economist with Bloxham Stockbrokers, is expecting some move on most of the "old reliables" - the areas where consumers are by now used to budgetary hikes.

Road tax, which went up by 5 per cent last time, is seen as an easy target, since car-owners have little choice but to pay out if they want to keep driving.

Tobacco is also a prime candidate for an increase, with public health considerations always providing a useful defence against criticism on this front.

Similar health-related arguments might justify higher taxes on alcohol too, although evidence that bar sales are in serious trouble (down almost 10 per cent in volume terms over the first six months of the smoking ban) could limit this.

Mr McQuaid believes alcopops and cider - already victims of increases - could again be targeted however.

Elsewhere, petrol may be a target, if only on the basis that oil prices have now fallen back, but consumers have become used to paying more at the pumps.

As with all stealth taxes, however, the inflationary impact of such a measure could make it unattractive.

Of course, it won't be all bad news on the tax side a week from today. Consensus expectations are based on the so-called "biggest stealth tax of all" (in the words of Labour's Ms Joan Burton) finally being addressed.

Tax bands and credits have been left unchanged for the past two years, with the result that close to 120,000 people have been pushed on to the top income-tax rate as their wages have risen. Dr Dan McLaughlin of Bank of Ireland estimates that the Minister for Finance, Mr Cowen, could raise the personal tax credit by €400 and lift the standard band threshold from €28,000 to €31,000.

Others are not so optimistic, but one good bet for an "easing" in the tax burden is the bank card levy, which the Irish Bankers' Federation and the Consumers' Association identify as a barrier to switching bank accounts.

Given that easy switching is a key objective of the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA), it would make sense for Mr Cowen to ensure that each consumer pays only one set of bank card charges in a given year. In this way, switching would be free and, importantly, bank customers would feel (finally) they were getting something for free.