Cyprus VAT income fell 4.3% in Q1

Income from VAT fell by 4.3% over the same period of the previous year in the first quarter according to the detailed data on the quarterly accounts of general government.
Total revenue in the first quarter amounted to EUR 1,598.6 mln, marking a fall of 6.6% compared with the corresponding period of 2010.
Total expenditure reached EUR 1,909.3 mln, recording an increase of 5.2%.
The resulting deficit was EUR 310.7 mln compared with a EUR 104.8 mln deficit in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The main categories of revenue for the period January-March 2011 were as follows.
Taxes on production and imports fell by 4.5% to EUR 588.3 mln
Of this, VAT fell 4.3% to EUR 358.3 mln.
Taxes on income and wealth dropped 7.2% to EUR 426.8 mln.
Revenue from sales of goods and services increased by 3.7% compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, reaching EUR 105.9 mln.
On the expenditure side, the main developments were as follows.
Compensation of employees rose 2.5% to EUR 628.6 mln; social transfers rose 6.7% to EUR 623.8 mln; and intermediate consumption increased EUR 185.7 mln to 6.4% increase.
Current transfers reached fell 7.5% to EUR 166.3 mln, while there was a 7.4% decline in capital formation to EUR 105 mln.