{"id":230987,"date":"2026-01-06T20:13:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T20:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/230987\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T20:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T20:13:08","slug":"exchequer-bounty-indicates-ireland-has-been-unaffected-by-us-tariffs-so-far-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/230987\/","title":{"rendered":"Exchequer bounty indicates Ireland has been unaffected by US tariffs so far \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest full-year exchequer returns indicate \u2013 above all else \u2013 just how little Ireland has been affected by the main economic news story of 2025: tariffs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite extensive warnings about the State\u2019s precarious position in Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s new world order, Ireland\u2019s economy and the multinationals that use it as an export base continue to thrive.<\/p>\n

Goods exports<\/a>, comprising mainly pharmaceuticals, rose by \u20ac41 billion or 22 per cent to \u20ac228.5 billion in the first 10 months of last year, according to the most up-to-date trade statistics.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s in part a reflection of companies front-loading exports into the US in advance of Trump\u2019s tariff announcements last year. <\/p>\n

But the bumper corporation tax<\/a> receipts detailed in the latest year-end exchequer returns reflect \u2013 more than anything else- the fact that the economy\u2019s two blockbuster industries, IT and pharma, remain outside Trump\u2019s tariff loop.<\/p>\n

This has preserved and in some cases increased the huge profits generated by these companies and bolstered Irish tax coffers in the process.<\/p>\n

Corporate tax receipts, excluding the Apple tax money, amounted to a record \u20ac32.9 billon last year, \u20ac3.3 billion higher than what had been forecast in Budget 2025. <\/p>\n

The exchequer collected \u20ac10 billion in November alone. The November total was more than the State used to collect in an entire year less than a decade ago.<\/p>\n

Ireland is imperiously immune to the debt and deficit problems coursing through European economies, something that stands in the way of investment in the continent\u2019s security at an increasingly perilous time.<\/p>\n

But have we become too reliant on these receipts? For an answer to this question, take a look at the acceleration in spending. It has risen at an alarming rate, by over 9 per cent a year since 2019.<\/p>\n

Minister for Finance, Simon Harris<\/a> noted that corporate tax receipts now account for almost one-third of all tax revenues collected by the State. The fact that over 60 per cent of this tax channel is being generated by 10 large firms leaves us heavily exposed. <\/p>\n

Apple\u2019s main Irish-registered entity was responsible for \u20ac8.2 billion of the \u20ac28 billion collected in 2024. This was separate from the \u20ac13 billion that flowed in courtesy of the Apple tax case.<\/p>\n

If the world falls out of love with iPhones, the Irish exchequer will have a problem.<\/p>\n

The other two big components of Government tax revenue \u2013 income tax<\/a> and VAT \u2013 both came in ahead of target and up on the previous year, reflecting the strength of the State\u2019s labour market where a record 2.8 million people are employed.<\/p>\n

More people at work means more people spending and paying tax.<\/p>\n

The income tax system remains lopsided in that it relies on too few, very well-paid workers, leaving it vulnerable to sudden shifts in the wider economy.<\/p>\n

The Government, for now, however, can afford effectively to sit on its hands because of those windfall corporation taxes which paper over any cracks in Ireland\u2019s economic picture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The latest full-year exchequer returns indicate \u2013 above all else \u2013 just how little Ireland has been affected…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24463,969,61,17691,60,43,70,1628,1963],"class_list":["post-230987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-corporation-tax","tag-donald-trump","tag-ie","tag-income-tax","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-simon-harris","tag-trade","tag-us-tariffs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}