Tax revenue €115m less than expected

REVENUE officials collected €115 million less income tax than the Government expected in the first two months of the year, the lowest figure since 2005.

Income tax revenues for the period are down 18% on the economic peak of €2.2 billion in 2008.

Overall, €4.7bn tax revenue was raised in the first 61 days of the decade. This was €1bn lower than the comparable figures last year, which triggered Finance Minister Brian Lenihan to announce an emergency spring budget for 2009.