A leading tax expert has said he expects August's exchequer returns to remain strong despite "a slight uptick in the unemployment rate".

August and September’s exchequer figures are seen as an important barometer for corporate tax receipts as companies with a December financial year end must file their corporation tax return by 23 September and pay the balance of corporation tax due.

In a statement released ahead of the figures being published, Brendan Murphy, Tax Partner at Baker Tilly said: "Last year’s August returns were particularly strong for corporate tax receipts as major firms announced positive financial results for 2023 and therefore, paid the balance of tax due for 2023 in August 2024.

"As a result, these August 2024 returns placed us ahead of the full year projections for 2024 at the time".

However, he said the global outlook had changed and was much more uncertain than this time last year.

"Much of the global landscape has changed in the last 12 months and, in the face of increased uncertainty around the future business environment in Ireland, it will be interesting to see if corporate returns remain strong, which would be welcomed ahead of Budget 26," he said.

"We expect this will be the case on the basis that 2024 financial results should not see any significant drop from 2023 results.

"Despite a slight uptick in the unemployment rate, the country remains at full employment, and we expect income tax returns to remain robust as a result.

He added: "For VAT receipts, August is a less significant month than July.

"However, we would expect consumer spending to remain strong in line with continued full employment and the traditional summer holiday season.  

"It is important that the exchequer figures remain strong as we head towards October’s Budget announcement, where the government will be hopeful of utilising budget surpluses to fund essential infrastructure projects as we seek to encourage our large corporates to continue to expand here in the face of uncertainty surrounding the potential impact of tariffs on the economy."