Tax revenues for the opening seven months of the year came in €500 million ahead of target at €20.3 billion, a performance which is in keeping with the positive trend evident in recent months.
According to new figures from the Department of Finance, the tax take at the end of July was €1.68 billion, or 9 per cent, above the amount collected in the same period last year.
A breakdown of the headline figure shows that income tax, Vat and corporation tax outperformed between January and July, when compared with the same period last year.
However while the tax haul exceeded expectations, the Government also overspent during the seven-month period. Overall exchequer expenditure totalled €25.9 billion at the end of July, which was €216 million above target.
Spending figures are broken down between current (day-to-day) expenditure and capital (investment) expenditure.
Current spending overran by €317 million during the period. This was attributed to a combination of lower-than-expected PRSI receipts, combined with overspending in areas such as social protection and health.
By contrast, capital spending came in €100 million below target due to under spending in areas such as jobs, enterprise and innovation.
The Department figures also show that the exchequer’s debt-servicing costs were just below €4.6 billion at the end of July, some €152 million lower than expected. However they were almost €2 billion higher than the same period last year.