Given the timings of various periods of restrictions last year and the unprecedented nature of the impact of the pandemic, year-on-year comparisons are of limited value and may give a misleading impression of tax revenue performance. As such, a much better guide to tax outturn in 2021 is the comparison vs profile. On that basis VAT receipts of €2,296 million, were €256 million or 12.5 per cent higher than profiled. Remarkably VAT returns were at the same level they were at in May 2019, despite a high level of restrictions in March and April this year (the months in which the May VAT liability arises).