The continuing decline in the government's tax take has been has been thrown into sharp relief by the latest Exchequer Returns.

Tax revenue for last month is almost a billion euro less than it was in January last year.

A combination of factors have driven down the tax take from €4.6 billion to just over €3.7 billion

The revenues from both stamp duty (€50 million) and capital gains tax (€36 million) are now less than a third of what they were twelve months ago.

The income tax take is also down as a result of the rise in unemployment.

A reduction in excise duty and VAT is being attributed to a rise in popularity of cross-border shopping, and a general reluctance by people to spend money on luxury items.