Sir, – As long as I have followed the exchequer returns, I have never known them to be as forecast ("Tax returns provide freshscope for Government", October 3rd). The result is uncertainty and an inability to ensure that the budget estimates reflect the real state of the economy. It is not rocket science to gauge the growth rate of the economy, so why do we get the tax take so wrong so spectacularly year after year? – Yours, etc,
DEREK MacHUGH,
Foxrock,
Dublin 18.