May 22 (Reuters) Brazil’s federal tax revenue surged in April, official data showed on Thursday, buoyed by higher oil-related receipts as elevated crude prices linked to the U.S.-Israel war on Iran lifted government intake under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Total revenue reached 278.823 billion reais ($55.86 billion), up 7.82% in real terms from a year earlier and a record for the month, repeating a pattern seen in every month so far this year.
Tax revenue overseen by the federal revenue service rose 7.31% in real terms in April, while receipts collected by other agencies – largely driven by oil royalties – jumped 14.89%.
As a net oil exporter, Latin America’s largest economy has been expecting stronger revenues amid commodity price volatility tied to the Middle East conflict.
Within sectors, tax payments from “oil and natural gas extraction” soared some 541% from the same month a year earlier, the revenue service said, by far the largest percentage increase across all industries.
The government also flagged stronger corporate income tax collection, higher social security revenues and increased taxes on fixed-income investments as key contributors to April’s performance.
Lula’s government has been seeking to improve public finances chiefly through higher revenue, after raising some taxes and rolling back tax breaks.
Year-to-date, tax revenue was up 5.41% in real terms to 1.06 trillion reais, also a record for the period.
($1 = 4.9915 reais)
Brazil Energy Insight 
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