Tax take slumps but decline stabilises

THE tax take continued to slump by €1.4bn in the first five months of the year, but new Exchequer figures show the situation is beginning to stabilise.

Income taxes were €219m, almost 5%, below Government targets, though the Finance Department said it expects to achieve the year end goal of collecting €31bn in overall receipts.

Total tax returns dropped by 10.4% year on year to stand at €12.117bn for the five months to the end of May – 1.2% below Government estimates.