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Income and Expenditure

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12/03/2024

The CSO has become aware that the tax figures used in the Income and Expenditure section of this publication, as reported by aircraft leasing firms, include significant amounts of deferred tax. The CSO has updated its reporting advice to address this issue. Thus, the tax figures used below, as quoted in Figure 2.5, Table 2.3, Figure 2.6, the text accompanying Figure 2.6 and Table 2.4, are not reflective of the tax paid by aircraft leasing firms in the period 2009-2018.

Information on the amounts of tax paid by aircraft leasing firms is available from the Revenue website via the following link:

https://www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/information-about-revenue/research/research-reports/corporation-tax-and-international.aspx

IncomeExpenditureProfits
20095.3577407764.2483664531.109374323
20106.2733398115.0899122331.183427578
20116.0365390464.5083894231.528149623
20127.7259027946.2148985591.511004235
20138.4837107096.8551612191.62854949
20149.5947122627.1999362252.394776037
201512.71139097410.0462327622.665158212
201614.71910275311.4427004123.276402341
201716.17689360112.188943123.987950481
201817.94156388913.2266920734.714871816

Income has risen by almost 235%, while expenses rose by around 211%. Annualised increases for each of income, expenditure and profits have been approximately 14.4%, 13.4% and 17.4% per annum respectively. The sharpest change in profits came between 2013 and 2014, with a rise of 47%, having grown by 8% in the previous year. In absolute terms, the largest increase in income occurred in 2015, when it rose by €3.1bn to €12.7bn. Expenditure figures shown are inclusive of interest and tax.

Table 2.1 Income, Expenditure and Profits€ billion
 IncomeExpenditureProfits
20095.44.21.1
20106.35.11.2
20116.04.51.5
20127.76.21.5
20138.56.91.6
20149.67.22.4
201512.710.02.7
201614.711.43.3
201716.212.24.0
201817.913.24.7
Operational Lease IncomeTotal Income
20094.1755.358
20104.6926.273
20114.8896.037
20125.7957.726
20136.558.484
20148.1069.595
201511.14512.711
201612.92814.719
201713.31316.177
201815.22717.942

Aircraft leasing companies have earned the majority of their income in their primary activity of the operational leasing of aircraft. This activity has generated almost €87bn for the industry for the total period, rising 265% from €4.2bn in 2009 to €15.2bn in 2018.

However, other sources of income raised almost €2.9bn in a single year (2017). These sources include fees & commissions and interest & dividends.

In 2016, 12.2% of all income came from sources other than aircraft leasing, its lowest over the 10 year period. Over €18bn (17%) of income came from sources other than the primary activity between 2009 and 2018.

Table 2.2 Income Source€ billion
 Operating Lease IncomeInterest ReceivedOther IncomeTotal Income
20094.2**5.4
20104.7**6.3
20114.9**6.0
20125.81.00.97.7
20136.6**8.5
20148.10.60.99.6
201511.10.80.812.7
201612.91.10.714.7
201713.31.81.116.2
201815.21.90.817.9
*Suppressed for confidentiality reasons

Since 2009, the most important regional sources of operational leasing income have been Europe at 38%, followed by Asia at 36%. The industry has generated just under €86.8bn in operational leasing income during the period under investigation.

10 year Proportion by Region
Australia and Oceania1.17004428680782
Europe37.5693617774642
Asia35.9368614648258
Americas22.5647410379939
Africa2.63814689528157
ChinaUnited StatesIrelandRussiaUnited KingdomBrazilUnited Arab EmiratesFranceIndiaItalyRest of World
10 year Proportion by Country11.23568809075839.112278885182736.725307603969325.795557784693774.616686106180364.527744212256724.060374895761653.790719078953633.460778565894383.1087393614631343.566125414886

By country, China has been the most significant source, providing 11.2% of all operational leasing income in 10 years. The next largest country was the United States, at 9.1%, followed by Ireland at 6.7%.

DepreciationOther Operating CostsInterest PaidTaxWages and Salaries
20091.7601379411.3780796680.8459234030.1822254410.082
20102.1540954781.7093379040.9994051870.1190736640.108
20112.0012848131.4435668760.7557472920.2017904420.106
20122.2726261632.4755199551.2400700750.0996823660.127
20132.5834022212.2528742071.8195860020.0702987890.129
20143.2321638551.3453912112.2290905070.2242906520.169
20154.4950065272.2386288912.8788349640.211762380.222
20165.2193724022.3270917313.41784160.2253946790.253
20175.3454468931.8959546364.2946108550.3059307360.347
20186.0264036591.6585996484.5432734140.5894153520.409

At more than €6bn in 2018, the highest cost to the industry has been depreciation, an accounting cost which reflects the reduction in value of the aircraft leased by the company, over its useful life. This is followed by interest, which in 2018 was €4.5bn.

Table 2.3 Expenditure€ billion
 DepreciationOther Operating CostsInterest PaidTaxWages and SalariesTotal Expenditure
20091.81.40.80.20.14.2
20102.21.71.00.10.15.1
20112.01.40.80.20.14.5
20122.32.51.20.10.16.2
20132.62.31.80.10.16.9
20143.21.32.20.20.27.2
20154.52.22.90.20.210.0
20165.22.33.40.20.311.4
20175.31.94.30.30.312.2
20186.01.74.50.60.413.2
Tax Payable (left axis)Tax Payable as % of Profits before Tax (right axis)
2009182.22544114.1085068361781
2010119.0736649.14192325967855
2011201.79044211.6645915128857
201299.6823666.18881202203532
201370.2987894.138026324598
2014224.2906528.56376253961053
2015211.762387.3607307962847
2016225.3946796.43654322945309
2017305.9307367.12480668512168
2018589.41535211.1120558395831

Tax paid by aircraft leasing firms has been somewhat volatile over the decade. More than €2.2bn has been paid during the period, with over 96% of this paid in Ireland. An average of €223m per year was paid, with €589m the most paid in a single year (2018). The figure in 2018 was over 26% all tax paid during the decade. Tax paid as a percentage of profits before tax was at its highest in 2009, at just over 14%.

Table 2.4 Tax
 Tax Payable €mProfits after Interest and Tax €mTax Payable as % of Profits before Tax
2009182.21,109.414.1
2010119.11,183.49.1
2011201.81,528.111.7
201299.71,511.06.2
201370.31,628.54.1
2014224.32,394.88.6
2015211.82,665.27.4
2016225.43,276.46.4
2017305.93,988.07.1
2018589.44,714.911.1

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