DUBLIN: Ireland collected 7.1 percent more tax in February than a year ago, driven by a rise in levies on income, while spending fell compared to the same point in 2015, the country's finance department said on Wednesday.
The government expects to balance its budget a year ahead of schedule in 2017 thanks to surging tax revenues, a booming economy and a fall in government spending that swung Irish finances into a 310 million euro surplus last month.
Finance Minister Michael Noonan said in January that he expected a budget deficit of around 0.75 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year.
Growing employment and wages saw income tax rise 8.7 percent, or 251 million euros, the data showed on Tuesday.
The finance department said a 4.6 percent year-on-year fall in net voted expenditure in the year to the end of February was due to the timing of social welfare payments and the receipt of funds from the European Union.
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