Tax receipts increased by 19 per cent year-on-year to €10.75 billion in the first three months of 2006, according to Exchequer returns published yesterday.
Driven in large part by the property boom, the surplus of receipts over spending at €2.42 billion was almost three times the surplus recorded in the same period of 2005.
The figures show tax revenue exceeded budget day expectations by €436 million as the surge in stamp duties and capital tax receipts continued.
Capital gains tax receipts exceeded budget day expectations by €191 million, while stamp duty receipts were €127 million higher than forecast and corporation tax receipts recovered from a poor performance last year to better projections by €127 million. But VAT and income tax receipts between them were around €100 million lower than projected at budget time.
Analysts attributed the results to the property market and questioned how long present trends could be sustained.
"The Government is selling into a booming property market and taking a good profit," Ulster Bank chief economist Pat McArdle said yesterday.
"We feel that the contribution from the booming property market in the form of capital and stamp duties cannot be sustained indefinitely," said Dermot O'Leary of Goodbody stockbrokers.
Department of Finance officials acknowledged that the results reflected continued strength in the property market.
"The significance of capital taxes has grown. We wouldn't see that continuing indefinitely . . . We were not expecting a continuation of the very significant growth in the property market that has happened," principal officer Barra O'Murchada said. "We're trying to get a handle on when this is going to ease and perhaps go in the opposite direction."
Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton criticised the Government's failure to accurately forecast capital tax revenues. "Between 2003 and 2005 the capital taxes were to increase by €40 million, but the actual increase was € 2.975 billion - the Minister's projections were out by 7,440 per cent," Mr Bruton said.
Labour party finance spokeswoman Joan Burton said the extra revenues were not delivering increased public services. "As the monies flow in, it is abundantly clear that families and communities are not feeling the benefit."
But the figures were welcomed yesterday by Minister for Finance Brian Cowen: "I am confident that these figures support the view that the economy will grow by over 4.5 per cent this year, the strongest growth rate in the euro area."
