November is the most important month of the year in terms of tax collection. The Department of Finance noted how total tax revenues collected to end-November was €99.1 billion, which was 20.8 per cent ahead of November 2023. €22.8 billion in total was collected in November, which is 46.1 per cent higher than in November last year.
Unsurprisingly, corporation tax receipts were the main driver of the increase in tax revenues. Not counting the Apple payments, corporation tax receipts for the year to date are up €4 billion or 18 per cent. Corporation tax receipts amounted to €13.7 billion, up €7.4 billion (116.8 per cent) from November 2023. The Department of Finance noted that two-thirds of the total liability from the CJEU ruling has been paid. However, when these receipts are excluded, corporation tax still showed strong growth year-to-date, though it is slightly below the Budget 2025 projection.
The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council warned on Thursday that spending was rising twice as fast as would be sustainable if spending is not tapered. The €4 billion does not include the €8 billion, expected by year’s end, of the Apple Tax money – stored until now in an Escrow account.
In terms of other area of tax revenues, €32.3 billion in income tax receipts were recorded, which was €1.9 billion (6.4 per cent) ahead of the same period in 2023. November is important for income tax, as it accounts for the majority of self-assessed income tax payments. In November alone, receipts totalled €4.7 billion, which reflects a 1.3 per cent increase in comparison to November 2023. For VAT, November is the last VAT-due month of the year. Receipts had decreased slightly to €3.1 billion due to a technical factor. However, cumulative VAT receipts stood at €21.4 billion to end-November, which was a 6.4 per cent increase in comparison to November 2023.
Overall, an Exchequer surplus of €13.8 billion was recorded to end November which is an €8.4 billion improvement on November 2023 figures. Minister for Finance Jack Chambers outlined how this shows “steady growth across the year.”
