Tax take €1.5bn ahead of last year, exchequer figures reveal

Windfall comes on the back of a surge in corporation tax

In the money...Noonan Pic: RollingNews.ie

The tax take is running €1.549 billion ahead of 2015, while state finances have improved in 2016 once one-offs like the sale of bank shares are excluded.

The figures come on the back of a surge in corporation tax – €1.669 billion at the end of May. That was up 9.3 per cent from last year and 40.9 per cent above profile, or forecasts.

Excluding factors including ehe sale of shares in Permanent ...