Overall tax take up 8.5% as corporation taxes drop

Tax receipts for the first five months of the year rose to €38.2bn, an 8.5% increase on the same period last year.
The latest Exchequer Returns figures show the State enjoyed a €4bn surplus to the end of May, an improvement of €3.2bn on 2024. However, when receipts arising from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruling for the Apple Tax Case are excluded, the underlying position was a surplus of €0.7bn, a decrease of €0.1bn on the same period last year.
Income tax receipts of €2.8bn were collected in May with income tax receipts so far this year amounting to €14.5bn up 4.5% on last year.
Corporation tax receipts of €2.5bn were collected in May, down by €1.1bn on the same month last year.
The Department of Finance said this reflects once-off factors that boosted May 2024 receipts, distorting the year-on-year comparison.
May is a VAT-due month and receipts of €3.5bn were up on the same month last year by €0.1bn.
On a cumulative basis, receipts of €7.4bn were up by €1.1bn on the same period last year. When once-off CJEU revenues are excluded, cumulative corporation tax receipts to end-May amounted to €5.7bn, down by €0.6bn (9.4%) on the same period last year.
Reacting to the figures, the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe said the most notable feature of the returns was the 'marked' year-on-year drop in corporation taxes. "While this reflects once-off factors last year, it nonetheless highlights the degree of concentration in the corporate tax base, wherein a small number of multinational firms can significantly impact on the overall tax yield," he said.
'In a context of unprecedented uncertainty in the international economic landscape, this serves as a timely reminder of Ireland's exposure to changes in the global trading environment, and of the vital importance of adhering to a sensible and sustainable budgetary strategy.'

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