FAQs

It is a set of information that aims to provide an overview of the evolution of the main Special Taxes, based on the information in the tax returns that taxpayers must complete to settle their tax obligations and to monitor their operations. The aim is to provide a perspective both over time (with information from the last available financial year, but also from previous financial years) and in comparison with other countries. In addition to the excise taxes themselves, the report includes the tax on fluorinated greenhouse gases and environmental taxes. However, the report does not provide information on either the Coal Tax or the Tax on Wine and Fermented Beverages.

For each of the taxes analyzed, an Excel file is provided containing a database with the historical series and a set of tables that allow viewing the information in that database. In each file the content is approximately the same: collection, accrued tax, consumption, prices, rates, returns, movements and international comparisons. To facilitate the availability of information, a complete database can also be downloaded in csv format with data on all taxes.

The information generally covers the period from 1995 to the latest available year, although in specific cases the time frame of some series may vary slightly, especially in the case of series based on international sources.

The internal data is fed by the self-assessment models and the operation models corresponding to all the taxes analysed and, since 2020, by the new system for keeping the accounts of products subject to Excise Taxes, called the Immediate System of Accounting Books for Excise Taxes (SILICIE). The latter has meant an increase in information, but poses some problems of homogenization with respect to the information coming from the operating models, which means that for some variables data is only available up to 2019. The information from the EU member states comes mainly from two sources: Eurostat and the European Commission tax database. In addition, in the specific case of the Special Tax on Hydrocarbons, information is also used from the Weekly Oil Bulletin published by the European Commission and which contains weekly information on the prices and taxes of certain petroleum products.

There are differences in formal character and content. Among the first is the form of presentation. The report has been published since 1998 and from 2013 to 2015 it was available in PDF format and accessible through the AEAT website. It is now published in Excel format with a database and a set of tables that allow viewing the contents of said database. As for content, the information has been reduced for several reasons: for consistency with other reports (particularly monthly and annual collection reports), to simplify tables that have been considered of little use for monitoring the evolution of the taxes under study, or to eliminate information that was not specific to the AEAT (for example, data from the General Directorate of Traffic) or could be found elsewhere (foreign trade, regulations).