Summary

Tax revenues in 2022 rose to 255,463 million euros, which represented an increase of 14.4% compared to the figure for 2021.

The growth was close to that recorded in 2021 (15.1%), but while then the comparison was made against a year fully affected by the pandemic, in 2022 it was compared with a year in which, without being completely Normally, the collection of 2019, the year before the outbreak of COVID, had already been exceeded.

The main causes of income growth were increases in consumer spending, wages and pensions, and corporate profits. The tax bases of the highest taxes grew by 13.1%, practically the same rate that had been reached in 2021. Part of this growth had to do with price increases, but these were not the most important factor in explaining the increase in bases and income. Less than 5 points of the increase in collection was due to price increases above their normal evolution in recent years, despite the fact that the CPI grew, on average for the year, by 8.4%. It must be remembered that consumer prices only directly affect a part of the income (those from VAT) and that their impact on collection was less due to the reduction in the rate applicable to electricity and gas consumption. On the other hand, in cases such as salaries and pensions, the increases are not linked to the prices of the current year, but, for the most part, to those of the previous year, and in the figures in which the tax revolves On physical consumption, as in the Hydrocarbon Tax, the effect of prices is negative.

The increase in revenue was, in addition, limited by the impact of regulatory and management measures (mainly those aimed at moderating the price of electricity), which subtracted 7.2 billion from the collection , and for the speeding up of the pace of making returns in the last part of the year. Without these two elements, revenues would have grown 3.2 points more.

The economic environment in which the collection took place was characterized by the combined presence of high inflation and intense growth in activity , especially until the last third of the year. Sales, once the effect of prices had been eliminated, had already exceeded 2019 levels at the end of 2021 and in 2022 they continued to grow at a good pace until reaching their maximums in the central months of the year. Both daily domestic sales, provided by the Immediate Supply of VAT Information system, and total sales declared monthly by Large Companies and quarterly by SMEs, followed a growing trend until the second quarter to moderate thereafter, especially in the final stretch of the year. In current terms, the profile was more pronounced because, in general, prices tended to follow a similar trajectory, with increasing increases in the first semester and gradual deceleration in the second (the CPI and the IPRI with and without energy followed this pattern; On the other hand, the underlying CPI, without the most volatile elements, continued to grow until December). Employment also lost momentum as the year progressed, but the slowdown occurred more smoothly.

The greatest growth was observed in direct taxes, which increased by 16.5% (despite the elimination of the Tax on the Value of Electrical Energy Production) , while indirect taxes fell by 12% and rates and other income were reduced by 6.4%. IRPF grew by 15.8% thanks to the increase in salaries and pensions and their effective rate, the good results of the 2021 annual declaration and the increase in the profits of personal companies . The collection of Corporate Tax grew by 20.8%, reflecting the very favorable evolution of profits both in 2022 (installed payments) and in 2021 (income from the annual declaration). In VAT revenues increased by 13.9%, a rate that would be 16% if the revenue lost due to the rate reduction is added and 19.4% if the negative impact of expediting returns. Special Taxes grew overall by 2.5%. Excluding the Electricity Tax, which was marginally collected due to measures to contain the cost of electricity, income was almost the same as three years before.