The coalition has taken in nearly €500 million more than planned in taxes in the first five months of the year. It is another signal that Michael Noonan will be able to ease up on the austerity in the October budget.
Last month alone the exchequer took in taxes totalling €224 million more than expected.
That means since January Michael Noonan has collected €446 million more from us than he thought he would when outlining the budget last October.
Income tax, VAT, Corporation Tax, excise duties, stamp duty and the property tax receipts have all performed better than expected.
Government spending is also under control - apart from the Department of Health, where an overspend of €144 million has been offset by €138 million of an under-spend in the Department of Social Protection.
Earlier, Finance Minister Michael Noonan signaled he could reach the targets to have the deficit below 3% next year with an easier budget than the planned €2 billion correction.
