Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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29. To ask the Minister for Finance the amount taken in corporation tax in each of the past 18 months, in tabular form. [15072/24]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 29 and 37 together.

Overall, tax revenues in the first three months of the year were a continuation of what we saw over the second half of last year: steady growth in our income tax and VAT receipts but with notable volatility in corporation tax.

Tax revenues of €20.1 billion were collected in the first of the quarter of the year, €0.3 billion or 1.8 per cent ahead of the same period last year, with growth in income tax and VAT compensating for a decline in corporation tax.

Aside from the decline in corporate tax – which is likely due to a technical timing issue – we are, broadly speaking, where we expected to be on tax revenue in the first three months of the year.

Income tax receipts in the period stood at €7.9 billion, up by €0.6 billion or 7½ per cent on the same period last year: this is a clear indicator of the resilience in our labour market.

VAT receipts of €7.1 billion were ahead of the first quarter in 2023 by €0.4 billion, or 5.4 per cent.

Corporation tax receipts recorded in the first quarter of the year stood at €2.4 billion. This was down by €0.8 billion, or 24.8 per cent, on the same period last year. Indications suggest that this may reflect a timing issue, so we expect that there may be a corresponding increase later in the year that will compensate for this decline.

This means that while corporation tax receipts are now significantly behind profile, they are expected to recover over the course of the year.

Nonetheless, the volatility in corporation tax receipts reminds us of the inherent unpredictability in what has become a highly concentrated revenue stream. It has been a key priority for this Government that we do not build permanent spending commitments on the basis of revenues that could be transient. That is why we have decided to establish the two new long-term investment funds, the legislation in respect of which was published recently.

The below table contains corporation tax payments for the previous eighteen months.