2015 tax take set to be €2bn better than forecast

The Government is expected to take in over €44bn in tax revenue this year. The surplus amounts to €2bn, or 5% more than was forecast in last October’s Budget.

Rises in pay, falling unemployment, rising domestic demand, and lower taxes have placed the Irish economy in “a sweet spot”, Goodbody Stockbrokers said yesterday in its second quarter health check on the State’s finances; and it only sees things improving.

Earlier this month, exchequer returns showed the public finances making a first quarterly surplus since before the financial crisis, with tax revenues of almost €10.5bn being generated in the first three months of the year; beating the same period last year by over 13% and topping Budget 2015 estimates by €545m or 5.5%. In last autumn’s Budget, the Government forecast a tax take of €42.3bn for 2015.