New figures from the Department of Finance confirm that Exchequer returns in 2015 amounted to €45.6 billion, which is €3.3 billion more than forecasted at the start of the year. As evident from the figures, this improvement in state finances stems from both increases in employment, higher corporation tax returns, as well as more VAT due to higher consumer spending. Compared to 2014, the underlying Exchequer deficit has improved by approximately €5.2 billion which brings the expected end 2015 deficit to around 1.5% of GDP.

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