Corporation tax €700m ahead of expectations by the end of November

Government tax revenues were over €1.4bn ahead of target by the end of November.

Corporation tax receipts were ahead of expectations by more than €700m for the same month.

Exchequer returns also show income tax receipts were ahead of target.

In total, an Exchequer surplus of €3.36bn was recorded to end-November 2019. This compares to a surplus of €1.92bn in the same period last year.

The €1.47bn year-on-year improvement is driven by increases in tax and non-tax revenues, a government statement confirmed, adding the figure was "somewhat offset by increases in both current and capital voted expenditure".

Tax revenues of €54.9bn to end-November 2019 were ahead of target by 2.7% or €1.5bn and exceeded the 2018 performance by 6.7% or €3.5bn.

Total net voted expenditure to end-November 2019, at €47.95bn, was up €2.82bn or 6.2% in year-on-year terms, comprised of a 4.4% increase in current spending and a 23.1% increase in capital spending. This was below profile by 1.4%, or €664m.