Indirect tax takings compromise Q1 revenues

First-quarter budget data are generating concern as state revenues continued to show strong signs of fatigue, particularly the course of indirect tax takings.

Besides the failure to bank the funds from the concession of the 14 regional airports in March – which were eventually paid in April – there was also a significant lag in categories such as revenues from value-added tax (159 million euros short of the target) and special consumption taxes (110 million euros short), the latest official figures have shown.

This has contributed toward revenues missing their budget target by 1 billion euros and is at least partly explained by the reduction in household expenditure down to the bare minimum.

The first-quarter primary surplus was 800 million euros lower than in the same period last year, at 1.07 billion euros. The budget target was just 77 million.