Inland Revenue receipts up 35% by Nov

The Inland Revenue Department reported total receipts of CYP 742 mln in the first eleven months of 2006 until end of November, up 34.5% year-on-year compared to CYP 551.5 mln in the same period a year ago.

The CYP 191 mln actual increase in tax receipts confirms the widely held view that the government has succeeded in improving its tax collections methods, allowing it to expand its social spending while at the same time holding off from raising taxes.

A sharp improvement among corporations helped propel the receipts from corporations by the highest margin, up by CYP 66 mln to CYP 241.2 mln in the Jan-Nov period or a percentage increase of 37.5%.

Tax receipts from capital gains, mostly referring to gains made on property dealings jumped by CYP 51 mln, or 99% to CYP 102.1 mln from CYP 51.3 mln a year ago.

Tax revenue from employees was also up 20.1% to CYP 191 mln in the first eleven months of the year, while receipts from self-employed improved by 14.4% to CYP 23.1 mln. Property taxes contributed a further CYP 6 mln in revenue (11M05: CYP 5.6 mln), stamp duty revenue were up 37.3% at CYP 25.4 mln from CYP 18.5 mln before while other taxes increased by 6.7% YoY to CYP 25.8 mln from CYP 24.2 mln before.