Bumper tax receipts, AIB on track to pay dividend and low LPT returns

The Government is on course for another record tax haul this year as a result of several large, unscheduled corporation tax payments from multinationals in the life sciences sector. The latest exchequer returns for October were also buoyed by a sharp rebound in income and VAT receipts linked to the reopening of the economy. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports.

His Bottom Line column also examines the parallel between the build up of savings in lockdown lasy year and the SSIAs in the 2000s. Both saw a massive once-off accumulation of deposits.

AIB signalled on Wednesday it is on track to resume paying dividends in early 2022, after a two-year hiatus, after it posted a "strong third quarter" amid accelerating new lending growth. Joe Brennan reports.

Colin Gleeson reports that fewer thanhalf of property owners have filed a local property tax (LPT) return ahead of the deadline on Sunday.A spokeswoman for the Revenue Commissioners said that, as of 8pm on Monday, returns for just over 765,000 properties had been filed, representing around 43 per cent of the expected number of properties liable.

Carney-led finance coalition has up to $130tn funding committed to hitting net zero

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Will pandemic savings go the same way as SSIAs?

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John FitzGerald: Climate change and its macroeconomic challenges

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Better-than-expected income tax and VAT receipts bolster public finances

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An Bord Pleanála, meanwhile,has locked out institutional investors from snapping up housing units en masse at a 194-home development in Maynooth, Co Kildare. The appeals board has attached a condition on Cairn Homes' planning permission for the €71 million scheme stipulating that corporate entities cannot purchase new houses from the development and that houses can be sold only to individual purchasers.

Staying on property, Fiona Reddan reportsthat a landmark building on Blackrock's Frascati Road in south Dublin, with potential for a headquarter-style office, is being brought to market for €11 million.

Leona Nicholson, the head of directinvestment management at Bank of Ireland Investment Markets, has decided to leave the group after more than three decades. The well-regarded stock picker is currently responsible for the bank's €350 million Global Fundamentals equities fund.

Ciaran Hancock reports that representatives from Trinity College and Government officials met on Tuesday to see if a proposal can be worked out that could save the Science Gallery on Pearse Street from closing. It is understood that the board of Trinity will meet tomorrow to decide if the talks should progress further or if the university should press ahead with its plan to close the popular gallery.

The Irish Data Protection Commission is "understaffed and needs additional capacity", European Commissioner Vera Jourova has said as she announced new regulations to tighten rules regarding online political advertising. CharlieTaylor reports

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