Irish tax take for January-February up 12%, excluding Apple tax windfall

DUBLIN, March 5 (Reuters) - Ireland collected 12% more tax in the first two months of the year than in the same period last year if one-off proceeds from a ruling on Apple AAPL.O back taxes are excluded, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.

Ireland is drawing down a 14 billion euro ($15.09 billion) Apple AAPL.O. back taxes windfall from an escrow account over several months following a European Court of Justice ruling in September that its favourable tax treatment of the iPhone maker had been unlawful.

Including the Apple funds, tax revenue for the first two months of the year was 15.2 billion euros. Excluding it, proceeds were 13.5 billion, the finance ministry said.

The Irish exchequer recorded a 3.2 billion euro surplus at the end of February, including the Apple back-tax proceeds. Excluding them, it posted a surplus of 200 million euros, compared to a deficit of 100 million euros at the same point last year.

($1 = 0.9277 euros)