OREANDA-NEWS. January 12, 2010. The Estonian Finance Ministry said that 63.4 billion kroons (EUR 4.05 b) tax revenue, 100 percent of the target, was paid into the state budget in 2009.

More corporative income tax and excise flew into the bugdet than planned, making up for shortfalls in the inflow of social and value-added tax.

The better than expected tax revenue inflow was due among other things to decisions made in the second half of the year for the contraction of expenditure and growth of revenues, lowering of the tax debt in November and efficient tax administration by the Tax and Customs Board.

The Finance Ministry said that it inflow of tax revenue at the intended level significantly supported further improvement of the state budget position for 2009 and meeting of the Maastricht budget criterion.

But the sum total of the eventual shortfall of the government sector bugdet in 2009 depends also from the budgets of local governments as well as of those of social insurance funds.

The Finance Ministry will give its preliminary assessment of the last year's government sector budget deficit in mid-February, and Statistics Estonia data will become available on March 26.

The Finance Ministry said that the inflow of tax revenue in the last month of the year was 6.1 billion kroons.

The sum total of social tax paid into the state budget in 2009 was 28.1 billion kroons, 96.2 percent of the target for the year. The inflow in December was 2.2 billion kroons.

In twelve months in 2009 2.4 billion kroons of individual's income tax was paid into the state budget, 108.6 percent of the budget target. Of this 406 million kroons was paid into the budget in December.

Payment of corporate income tax into the state budget totaled four billion kroons last year, of this 672.6 million kroons in December. The large inflow in December was due to income tax on dividends paid by state-owned companies.

The sum total of value-added tax paid into the budget during the 12 months was 18.8 billion kroons, 97 percent of the budget target. In December 1.7 billion kroons of value-added tax was paid into the state budget.

Excise revenue paid into the state budget totaled 9.8 billion kroons, 103.4 percent of the annual target. The December intake was one billion kroons.