According to a new statistical release from the CSO, more than half of all taxes – 52pc – are on income and wealth.
Income tax receipts have also doubled since 2015, which reflects the huge increase in the workforce over that period. The receipts under this heading last year came to €29.5bn. In 2019, the last year before Covid skewed the numbers, income tax receipts were just under €20bn.
The take from corporation tax last year was €28.1bn, up 18pc, but this did include the one-off Apple back-tax payment. The recent increase in this tax stream has been staggering, however. The figure was €10.8bn in 2019 and €6.8bn in 2015.
About half the current corporation tax take is regarded as “windfall” in nature, which means it is not explained by underlying economic activity and may disappear. The Government has been told by independent bodies such as the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and the Central Bank not to allow this “windfall” element to be used on current spending. In response, it has set up two long-term sovereign wealth funds, into which some of the excess receipts are being funnelled.
The CSO figures, which are based on the National Tax List and transmitted to Eurostat, show that taxes on products now account for a quarter of total revenue, including €22bn in Vat and €6bn in excise duties.
Vat receipts have also been increasing steadily, with the exception of the Covid period when businesses were shut or restricted. However, Vat as a proportion of tax revenues has been decreasing, due to the bigger surge in corporation tax, which accounted for 22pc of the take last year, compared to 8pc in 1995.
Excise receipts were €0.5bn higher last year compared with 2023, which was due mainly to increased revenues from Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT), carbon tax and levies on petrol and diesel.
“For the third year in a row there has been a decrease in the revenues from excises on tobacco and alcohol products,” the CSO said. “These make up 34pc of excise duty, with 31pc coming from hydrocarbon products.”
PRSI receipts were €17bn in 2024, up 9pc on the previous year, again reflecting the fact that the workforce has reached record levels.
PRSI has also been steadily increasing in recent years, with the exception of the period after the global financial crash, and the pandemic period.
Most taxes are paid to central government, which received almost €107bn last year. Local government tax revenues were over €2bn, which was mainly commercial rates.
There was €854m of revenue in Capital Acquisition Tax last year, a 35pc increase.
Custom duties of €0.6bn were collected on behalf of the EU.