Corporation Tax Receipts Surge 168 Percent in September, Exchequer Returns Show
Exchequer returns published on 2 October 2026 show Ireland collected 4.8 billion euros in corporation tax in September, a surge of 168 percent on the 1.8 billion euros collected in September last year. The tax is mostly paid by multinationals. The increase was mainly due to foreign-owned corporations bringing forward payments of approximately 2 billion euros that were due later this year, which means payments later this year will be lower than expected.
So far this year, corporation tax payments were ahead of last year by 24 percent at 22.6 billion euros. Other taxes were also performing strongly: overall taxes were up 10.7 percent on last year when one-off payments from Apple settling its tax case are excluded; income tax payments for the first nine months were up 7.8 percent at 27.7 billion euros; and VAT receipts were 20.4 billion euros, a rise of 8.9 percent. Excise receipts, by contrast, were 4.3 billion euros, down 8.4 percent, after government cuts to excise on petrol and diesel.
A Department of Finance white paper published the same day estimates tax and spending for this year and shows the government will break its own spending ceiling for 2026: gross spending will be 1.5 billion euros above the limit, with half of the overspend caused by additional expenditure in the Department of Health. The figures make no provision for the Christmas bonus, which, when announced on budget day, will push the overspend higher by hundreds of millions of euros.
The returns came as the government entered the final days of preparation for Budget 2027, to be presented to the Dáil on Tuesday, 6 October. The tension between booming corporation tax and spending discipline is set to be a central theme of the budget debate.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 都柏林海关大楼。照片：Matti Blume，CC BY-SA 4.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons（Custom House Quay, Dublin (DSC06368).jpg）
