Christmas Vat spend lifts total tax receipts to €7.8bn in January  

Income tax receipts of €2.9bn in January were up by €100m, or almost 3%, from a year earlier

At €3.8bn, Vat receipts accounted for almost half of all the tax revenues collected last month, up by 7% from a year earlier when technical factors are taken into consideration. Picture: Laura Hutton

The Government collected almost €400m more in tax revenues in January than it did a year earlier thanks to strong Christmas Vat receipts, in a further sign of the financial health of the economy at the start of the year. 

The exchequer returns show that a total of €7.8bn in tax receipts was paid last month, which compares with the €7.4bn paid in January 2023.