{"id":435565,"date":"2026-05-06T18:45:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T18:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/435565\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T18:45:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T18:45:11","slug":"tax-receipts-up-e1-1bn-despite-iran-war-price-shock-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/435565\/","title":{"rendered":"Tax receipts up \u20ac1.1bn despite Iran war price shock \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The public finances<\/a> were boosted by stronger-than-expected out-turns in income tax, VAT and corporation tax<\/a> in the first four months of the year, the latest exchequer returns show.<\/p>\n

Overall tax receipts rose by 4.2 per cent to \u20ac28 billion for the four-month period, despite the Iran war and the ensuing oil price shock.<\/p>\n

On a cumulative basis, income tax generated \u20ac12.4 billion, up 5.7 per cent or \u20ac672 million on the same period last year, reflecting the buoyancy of the labour market where a record 2.83 million people are employed.<\/p>\n

VAT receipts for the four months came to \u20ac8.3 billion, up 4.5 per cent or \u20ac356 million on last year. <\/p>\n

The Government is set to benefit from the raised level of inflation caused by conflict in the Middle East with consumers spending more to buy the same amount of goods.<\/p>\n

While most of the Government\u2019s corporate tax haul comes later in the year, the total so far \u2013 \u20ac3.5 billion \u2013 was up 8.6 per cent on the equivalent period last year.<\/p>\n

On a cumulative basis, tax revenues of \u20ac28 billion were collected to the end of April, down by \u20ac587 million on last year. <\/p>\n

However, when once-off receipts arising from the Apple tax ruling are excluded from the 2025 figures, total tax receipts were up on last year by \u20ac1.1 billion or 4.2 per cent.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s Exchequer returns are encouraging, highlighting Ireland\u2019s economic resilience during a period of deep global uncertainty,\u201d Minister for Finance Simon Harris<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Solid tax trends will only increase demands on the Government for energy supportsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cEmployment is at record levels, and the income tax returns reflect a strong labour market,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Harris noted that overall tax revenues for April amounted to \u20ac5.3 billion, up by almost 8 per cent on the same period last year, reflecting strong income tax, VAT and corporation tax growth for the year to date. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese strong revenues provide us with the firepower necessary to support people throughout the coming months,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The latest figures showed total voted expenditure amounted to \u20ac36 billion for the four months, \u20ac2.9 billion (8.9 per cent) ahead of 2025. <\/p>\n

The Government used its positive budgetary position to pay for an additional \u20ac505 million in fuel supports. The package \u2013 announced last month \u2013 came after a week of protest and blockades led to severe diesel and petrol shortages.<\/p>\n

Of the increased spending overall, Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers said: \u201cThis level of investment reflects the implementation of Budget 2026 policies including increases in social welfare rates, additional funding for health, education and disability services, and provision for the continued roll-out of housing and transport.\u201d <\/p>\n

The figures indicated an exchequer deficit of \u20ac4.7 billion was recorded for the four-month period compared to a surplus of \u20ac2.8 billion in the same period last year, a decrease of \u20ac7.5 billion. <\/p>\n

The year-on-year comparison was, however, impacted by the Apple tax case. <\/p>\n

When these revenues are excluded from 2025, a decline of \u20ac4.2 billion was recorded in the underlying exchequer balance, the department said.<\/p>\n

This was \u201clargely due to the timing of transfers this year\u201d from the exchequer to the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund, it said.<\/p>\n

Responding to the latest figures, Peter\u202fVale, tax partner at Grant Thornton Ireland, said: \u201cPositive April income tax results are typically generated by a mix of bonuses and share awards, reflective of strong 2025 corporate earnings.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Special savings scheme will benefit wealthy at State\u2019s expense, say economistsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cWith recurring income tax receipts also solid, fuelled by high employment, the picture here looks healthy,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cRecent job loss announcements are a cause for concern but any impact on income tax receipts will not be seen for some months,\u201d Vale said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The public finances were boosted by stronger-than-expected out-turns in income tax, VAT and corporation tax in the first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,24463,1398,61,60,70],"class_list":["post-435565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-corporation-tax","tag-department-of-finance","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-simon-harris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435565","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=435565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}