Introduction

In 2020, tax revenues decreased by 8.8% compared to the 2019 level, standing at 194,051 million .

The year was marked by the pandemic that conditioned the development of the activity and the generation of income. The tax bases of the main taxes decreased by 7.7%. This decline is, however, less intense than what could be observed in other indicators such as nominal GDP or domestic demand, an indicator usually more related to fiscal variables. The main reason for this disparity is found in the compensatory role played by public income (salaries, pensions and other benefits, including transfers derived from ERTE) and which is reflected in the different intensity with which the bases decreased. linked to spending (-13.9%) and bases related to income (-3.3%). Without the contribution of public revenues to collection, income would have fallen by around 2 points more.

In addition, income was affected by the impact of regulatory and management changes, and by the realization of high returns from previous years. Regarding the former, the changes with the greatest impact throughout the year were a consequence of pre-COVID measures. The numerous measures that were implemented to alleviate the effects of the health situation did not have such a great impact on the overall result, but they were relevant over the course of the year. In net terms, all of these measures improved revenue, but the impact was almost completely offset by the payment of the high refund claims that had been submitted in 2019 and were made in 2020.

Except for personal income tax, income decreased in all major figures. In personal income tax collection increased by 1.2% for the reasons mentioned above. In Corporate Tax revenues were reduced by 33.2%, although a good part of the decrease had to do with the management of refunds. In VAT the drop was 11.5%. And in Special Taxes, income was 12.1% lower than those registered in 2019.