A doubling of the corporate tax take was the highlight of the latest Exchequer tax returns.
On the income tax front, despite a more modest increase in August, year to date receipts are up 6.9%. While there has been a small increase in unemployment, the numbers in employment remain strong, fuelling the positive tax numbers.
August is a quiet month for VAT, but year to date returns are 7.5% ahead, indicative of the ongoing resilience in the domestic economy.
While August’s corporate tax figures are notoriously volatile, a doubling of corporate tax receipts in the month is a remarkable performance, almost unquestionably attributable to the technology sector.
While the Department identified a timing issue as being partly behind the strong August numbers, year to date corporation tax receipts are now running 28% ahead of last year. Given the consistently strong numbers, it is becoming increasingly difficult to identify the windfall element.
There is always the caveat regarding inherent volatility given our dependence on such a small number of companies, but it looks almost certain that 2024 will be another record year for corporation tax receipts.
In summary, another good month for the Exchequer, in the last set of tax returns pre Budget 2025.
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