Income tax revenue decreases in first two months

Income tax revenue decreased by €179 million in the first two months, figures out today show.

The National Statistics Office said on Monday that recurrent revenue amounted to just over €1 billion between January and February. This represented a decline of €103.8 million over the same period last year.

The NSO said the largest drop was recorded under income tax – a decline of €179 million when compared to the same period last year. Other declines were registered in grants (-€37.1m) and rents (-€2.9m).

However, these decreases were partially offset by higher receipts from social security contributions (+€34.1m), VAT (+€32.4m) and miscellaneous receipts (+€23.2m).

Total expenditure from January to February stood at €1.2 billion, €142.6 million higher than the previous year.

This reflected higher outlays on programmes and initiatives (+€63.3m), contributions to government entities (+€57.1m) and salaries (+€31.3m).

The interest component of the public debt servicing costs totalled €47.4 million, an increase of €6.2 million when compared to the previous year.

Additionally, the NSO said that by the end of February, government’s capital spending amounted to €38.6 million, €23.6 million lower than the same period in 2024. Lower spending was registered under road construction and improvements (-€14.4 million), property, plant and equipment (-€5.3 million) and maritime facilities (-€3.9 million).

The difference between total revenue and expenditure resulted in a deficit of €95 million at the end of February. By the end of the same month last year, government finances had reported a surplus of €151.4 million.

At the end of February, central government debt stood at €10.9 billion, an increase of €859.1 million when compared to 2024.