The end of July Exchequer returns were released by the Department of Finance last week. While tax take for the year so far is €644 million ahead of target, VAT, which is a key measure of consumer spending, is below target by some €61 million for the month of July.

Tax revenue of €26.6 billion has been collected so far this year, which is an 8.5% increase on 2015. In year-on-year terms, income tax receipts are up 5.4%, corporate tax receipts are up 13.7% and VAT is up 4.2%.

While the year-to-date figures are positive, July’s numbers do raise some question marks about whether the recent Brexit vote has caused the reduction in consumer spending. On a positive note, income tax receipts reflect a strong labour market and corporation tax is well ahead of last year’s figures.