Ireland took in more corporation tax in November than it used to collect in entire years a decade ago, as a recent boom in receipts from multinationals picked up more pace to push the total tax take 25 per cent higher year-to-date.
The Government took in €5 billion last month, mostly from a small number of large companies whose European headquarters are in Ireland. That lifted the total corporate receipts so far this year to €21.1 billion, up 56 per cent from the same point last year.
The November total was more than the €4.6 billion of corporate receipts collected for the whole of 2014. The total so far this year has already far eclipsed the previous annual record of €15.3 billion recorded in 2021.
One-off receipts
The Department of Finance reiterated that some of the receipts are expected to be one-off and will not happen again next year. It has also warned that recent lay-offs in Ireland's large multinational tech sector could signal a dip in profitability and therefore corporate tax payments for some firms.
November was also another strong month for income tax and VAT, the other largest categories.
Income tax receipts of €4.4 billion were up 16 per cent year-on-year, which the finance ministry said reflected continued increases in earnings as well as the strength of self-employed income, much of which is paid in November.
VAT receipts for the month were up 19 per cent year-on-year, reflecting the recovery in consumption as well as higher prices.
Total Government expenditure so far this year was marginally lower than in 2021, contributing to a budget surplus of €12.1 billion at the end of October, compared with a €1.5 billion deficit a year ago.
The Department of Finance said the end-year surplus will be much lower as December is the largest month for expenditure and will include further government assistance to help consumers with rising prices.
Its most recent forecast is for a budget surplus of 0.4 per cent of gross national income for 2022. - Reuters
