Falling corporation tax receipts give Government scare over Covid-19 finances

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe. Government ministers will now be looking ever more closely at the revenues it collects this month, the single biggest period for corporation tax receipts. Photo: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

The Government has got a scare over financing the billions in Covid-19 spending after the once-reliable corporation tax revenues unexpectedly stumbled in October, despite the profits generated by the pharma giants and other multinationals during the pandemic.

The figures on tax revenues from the latest exchequer returns have been complicated this month by Government accounting that deducts the €550m cost of the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme, a key budget measure, in equal parts from the streams of corporation and income tax revenues.