Irish government revenue from taxes and social contributions is lower than the EU average as a proportion of output (GNI* basis). Revenues from consumption and capital are above the EU average, whereas revenues from labour are below the EU average.
The relatively high yield from capital is explained by Ireland’s extremely high receipts from the income of corporations, whereas revenues from other capital sources such as stocks of capital and especially incomes of the self-employed, are below the EU average. The relative ‘under-taxation’ of labour income is explained by the low yield from employer social contributions. The implicit tax rate on employer contributions is just 54% of the average for the EU as a whole. Finally, the implicit tax rate on consumption is above the EU average.