Tag Archives: Exchequer

Minister for Finance Paschal O’Donohue (left) and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath in the Department of Finance this afternoon

This afternoon.

The public finances recorded a surplus at the end of March of €200m, according to the latest Exchequer figures published by the Department of Finance.

Via RTÉ News:

Today’s figures show that on a 12-month rolling basis, there was a deficit of €3 billion.

On a cumulative basis, for the first three months of this year, income tax was up almost €1 billion or 16% to €6.8 billion. This is also 37% higher than the same period of 2019.

VAT returns were up €1.4 billion or just over 30% to €5.9 billion compared to the same period in 2021. This is 17% higher than the same period in 2019.

Due to what the department describes as a “timing issue” with returns usually expected in August being made in March, corporation tax is up €1.3 billion or 224% to €1.9 billion.

The surge in corporation tax is also explained as “increased profitability of a small number of companies in the ICT sector”.

Tax revenue in total came in at €17.2 billion, some €4.2 billion higher or 32% ahead of the same period last year.

Public finances show surplus of €200m in March (RTE)

Sam Boal/RollingNews

Minister for Finance Pascahal Donohoe and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath following behind

This afternoon.

Department of Finance.

Latest exchequer figures reveal the year-on-year decline in the overall tax take to be just just 3% so far this year.

Via RTÉ:

The Department of Finance had forecast in April that State revenues would fall by 16% this year due to the pandemic disruption.

But a strong pre-crisis start to the year, better than expected income tax take since and a surge in corporate tax receipts meant revenues were little changed in the first six months.

An unprecedented level of stimulus to soften the economic hit pushed Government spending up 24.9% year-on-year in the first nine months and the Exchequer deficit to €9.4 billion, today’s figures show

Minister for Finance Pacschal Donohoe said:

“They show that although receipts are better than previously expected, much of the over-performance relates to corporation taxes – a revenue stream we cannot rely on over the medium-term.”

Exchequer deficit reaches €9.4 billion in September (RTÉ)

RollingNews

From the Financial Times’ Alphaville blog:

“We’ll avoid the accounting implications of this deal, though we think it might be an interesting study,” we said last week of Ireland’s circuitous non-deferral deferral of a €3.06bn cash payment to a dead bank under the infamous promissory notes.

Oops.

The “government” didn’t pay cash to Anglo – but Nama, the bad bank which is a Eurostat opinion away from being the government, effectively did.

According to the Irish exchequer statement for 31 January to 31 March 2012 [published yesterday], the government deficit plummeted to €4.26bn, from €7.066bn a year earlier. Not bad. Actually some key sources of tax revenue show marked improvement, such as VAT, capital gains and income tax. This is good news. But they’re not that good news for the headline fiscal deficit number we have.

The biggest “improvement” then is the “deferred” government payment to Anglo Irish, which isn’t really deferred but which has fallen out of the headlines because it’s come from Nama instead.

Now You See The Promissory Notes In The Deficit, Now You Don’t (Jospeh Coterill, Financial Times)