It is unclear if the State will raise as much in tax revenue this year as it did in 2007, following the publication of the exchequer's financial statement for April.
A report in today's Irish Times quoted a Department of Finance spokesperson who said it would be a "very close" call.
The statement shows that the Government collected €13.26 billion in taxes during the first four months of 2008, €927 million or 6.5 per cent less than the €14,191 million that flowed into the exchequer in the corresponding period of 2007.
Weak property markets and a slowing economy continued to impact on Revenue receipts with a total of €14.69 billion in tax being collected in the first four months of 2008 compared to €15.17 billion in the same period last year.
The Exchequer deficit compares to a deficit of €638 million in April 2007.
Tax receipts in the year to April stood over 3 per cent lower than in the same period last year, which marked a slight improvement on the 6 per cent shortfall at the end of March. Tax revenue to date was down €736 million, or 5.3 per cent, below projections, compared to €600 million at the end of last month.
In the 2008 Budget, the Government targeted a €1.585 billion or 3.3 per cent increase in tax revenues during 2008. However, tax receipts so far this year continue to fall below official expectations. The public finances continued to deteriorate during April and tax revenues in the first four months of the year have fallen €736 million, or 5.3 per cent, short of official targets.
Day-to-day Government spending has broadly adhered to budgets during the first four months of 2008, with the notable exception of the Health Service Executive (HSE). The HSE has overspent its budget by a gross €95 million in the first four months of the year. This overspend was reduced to a net €80 million by a clawback of €15 million from the nursing homes refund scheme.
Large additions to capital spending under the National Development Plan combined with the steep shortfall in total tax revenues have caused the exchequer to incur an overall deficit of €3.74 billion in the four months ending April. This is almost six times the size of the exchequer deficit of €638 million reported in the corresponding period of 2007.