Tax revenue amounted to EUR 7.912bn (down from EUR 8.052bn in 2011) and social contributions to EUR 5.48bn (down from EUR 5.52bn), according to a report for 2012 released by the Statistics Office.

The biggest fall was recorded in income tax receipts. The 5.7% decline was mainly due to a 26.9% collapse in corporate income tax to EUR 446m.

Receipts from social contributions also decreased for the first time since 1995. Contributions paid by employees fell by 2.5% and those by employers by 0.5%, while contributions paid by the self-employed and unemployed rose by 6.6%.

Receipts from tax on capital went up by 44%, which is mainly on account of the tax on total assets of banks reintroduced in 2012.