Bumper corporation tax receipts mean the State remains on course for another record tax year despite the threat from US tariffs.
The latest exchequer returns show tax receipts for the year to the end of July came to €58 billion. This was €5.6 billion or 11 per cent up on last year’s record total at the same stage.
The strong out-turn was again driven by corporation tax receipts which came to €1.2 billion in July, up nearly €900 million on the same month last year.
On a cumulative basis, receipts from the business tax came to €16 billion for the first seven months of the year, up €3.5 billion on last year.
READ MORE
The latest exchequer numbers came as US president Donald Trump announced details of a new Apple pledge to invest an additional $100 billion in US manufacturing in a move that will raise concerns about its Irish operations and the level of investment it is planning here. The investment includes a 23,225sq m (250,000 sq ft) server manufacturing facility in Houston along with the construction of data centres across the country.
Apple is one of a handful of companies responsible for the bulk of Ireland’s corporation tax take. Any decision to pull back on its operations here would inevitably have adverse implications for the exchequer.
It adds to concerns in Government Buildings over comments on Tuesday that the Trump Administration may look to impose additional tariffs of up to 250 per cent on a pharmaceutical sector that is critical to Ireland’s recent economic success, on top of a 15 per cent tariff on exports to the US that is scheduled to come into force on Thursday.
[ Tax and spending package of €9.4bn to form basis of Budget 2026Opens in new window ]
Alongside the strong corporation tax figures, the latest exchequer data published by the Department of Finance point to a worrying rise in spending.
Total voted expenditure for the period amounted to €60.5 billion, which was €4.8 billion or 8.6 per cent ahead of the same period in 2024.
The figures come on the back of warnings from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (Ifac) that Government budget policy has “lost its anchor”, with spending on a potentially unsustainable trajectory.
The budgetary watchdog said overruns in day-to-day spending were likely to top €2 billion this year.
The exchequer figures show that, on a cumulative basis, income tax receipts to the end of July came to €20.3 billion, up nearly 4 per cent on the same period last year, which reflects the strength of the State’s labour market.
VAT receipts were up marginally at €3.3 billion.
Peter Vale, tax partner with consultancy Grant Thornton Ireland, warned that weaker-than-expected VAT numbers in July “would indicate a slowdown in consumer spending, with sentiment likely not helped by the ongoing tariff negotiations”.
Receipts from the sales tax for the seven months came in at €14.8 billion, up 4.8 per cent year on year.
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said: “Today’s figures show that in terms of tax revenue we are, broadly speaking, where we expected to be at this point in the year; the clear exception is corporation tax, which, at least for now, is well ahead of last year.
“As I have said many times, we cannot assume these overperformances will continue indefinitely, particularly in the context of a deeply uncertain international trading environment.”
At a headline level, an exchequer surplus recorded in July came to €4.1 billion, an improvement of €700 million on the same period last year.
However, excluding the once-off receipts arising from the Apple tax ruling last year, the underlying surplus was €800 million – or €2.5 billion behind the same period last year.
