Irish 2024 tax take up 9.5% at the end of July

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland collected 9.5% more tax in the first seven months of the year than in the same period in 2023 following another rise in income tax and VAT receipts last month, the finance ministry said on Tuesday.

Ireland has racked up record levels of tax in each of the last three years thanks to stronger income, VAT and in particular corporation tax returns.

Corporate tax receipts, mainly from Ireland’s hub of large foreign multinationals, stood 15% higher year-on-year at the end of July after a first half surge. Relatively little corporate tax is paid in July.

The exchequer recorded a 3.4 billion surplus to the end of July, even as day-to-day government spending was 13% higher than the same period last year.

The finance ministry expects to end the year with a total surplus of just over 7 billion euros, which it revised down last month from an earlier projection of 8.6 billion euros to take account of higher spending.

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Christina Fincher)