Tax revenues for the first half of the year were €44.7 billion, according to the recent June Exchequer figures. The figures represent a €3.8 billion increase (or 9.3 percent) on the same period last year. Aggregate tax receipts for the first half of 2024 are now ahead of expectations, with the over-performance largely due to corporation tax receipts. An Exchequer surplus of €3.1 billion was recorded in the first half of the year.
The breakdown of tax revenues is as follows:
Total gross voted expenditure to end-June amounted to €47.1 billion, €5.2 billion (12.4 percent) ahead of the same period in 2023.
Commenting on the figures, the Minister for Finance, Jack Chambers TD said:
“June is a key month for tax revenues and the strong performance across the first half of the year is a welcome indicator of the health of our economy, most clearly reflected in the robust growth in income tax and VAT revenues.
The stand-out feature is undoubtedly the sharp spike in corporation tax receipts in June, which means that in the year to date, this revenue stream is well above its level in the same period last year.
That said, there has been considerable volatility – in both directions – in corporation tax revenues over the last number of months, underlying the need to treat around half of these receipts as windfall in nature. There is also overwhelming evidence that confirms the highly concentrated nature of these receipts.
The two new investment vehicles – the Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund – signed into law last month will help us to address some of the risks around windfall tax revenues, but this must be coupled with a balanced approach to budgetary policy. With this in mind, Government will set out the fiscal parameters for Budget 2025 in the Summer Economic Statement, which will be published next week.”
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