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The Department of Finance in snowy Dublin, Thursday, Dec 02, 2010
Irish Exchequer Returns for January, issued by
the Department of Finance this afternoon, show that the deficit was €483m, down from €780m in
the same month last year.
Tax revenues, at just over €3.1bn, were €57m or 1.9% up on the same period in
2010. Net expenditure, at just over €3.9bn, was €196m or 4.8% lower.
Tax Revenue
Tax revenues in January amounted to €3.13bn. This was €57m
or 1.9% above the same month in 2010. Tax revenues fell 3.9% in 2010. The amount
collected in January represents 9% of the annual target and is consistent with
expectations.
A year-on-year decline of €65m in income tax was more than
offset by combined year-on-year increases in VAT, corporation tax and excise
duties of €58m, €31m and €21m respectively.
The Department said the forecast growth rate in tax
revenues for the year as a whole is 9.9%. This is driven by two significant
factors:
(i) The reclassification of health levy receipts, which up
to now had been collected as a Departmental receipt paid directly to the
Department of Health & Children, to form part of the new Universal Social
Charge, to be collected as part of income tax, and
(ii) The large Budget day tax raising package, primarily
on income tax, of €1.1bn.
These factors did not benefit tax revenues in January
as the bulk of income tax receipts paid into the Exchequer in January relate to
earnings and employment in December.
Spending
Total spending in January was €3.94bn, a €196m or 4.8%
year-on-year decline.
Net current expenditure, at €3.72bn was €24m or 0.7% up on
January 2010 due primarily to the reclassification of health levy receipts which
increases net voted current expenditure. These receipts had previously been paid
directly to the Department of Health & Children and had the effect of offsetting
gross current expenditure.
Net capital expenditure was €214m in January, down €221m
on the corresponding period in 2010. The Department said given the once-off
nature of much of capital expenditure, year-on-year comparisons are not
particularly relevant so early in the year.
Debt Servicing
The cost to the Exchequer of servicing the national debt
was €288m lower in January than in the same month last year. However, the
majority of the expenditure used to service the national debt in the early
months of 2011 is being funded from the Capital Services Redemption Account (CSRA)
rather than the Exchequer. It was signalled at Budget time that €600m in debt
servicing expenditure in 2011 would be funded from the CSRA.
