Govt reports increase in tax take for July

Tax take last month was 8.6 per cent higher than the same time last year.

Exchequer figures for July show the Government took in €18.6bn in tax revenue - €1.5bn more than in July 2010.

The Department of Finance says the increase is primarily due to higher income tax receipts, as a result of Budget measures including the Universal Service Charge.

It means tax revenues were €263m or 1.4 per cent above target by the end of July.

The Exchequer deficit now stands at €18.9bn compared to a deficit of €10.2bn after the first seven months of 2010.