Summary

Tax revenues in 2022 rose to 255.463 billion 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 entirely normal, 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 largest taxes grew by 13.1%, practically the same rate that had been reached in 2021. Part of this growth was due to price increases, but these were not the most important factor in explaining the increase in bases and revenues. Less than 5 points of the increase in tax revenue 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 cases in which the tax is based on physical consumption, such as the Tax on Hydrocarbons, the effect of prices is negative.

The increase in revenue was also limited by the impact of regulatory and management measures (mainly those aimed at moderating the price of electricity), which subtracted 7.2 billion from revenue, and by the acceleration of the rate of refunds in the last part of the year. Without these two elements, revenues would have grown by 3.2 points more.

The economic environment in which the collection took place was characterized by the joint presence of high inflation and intense growth in activity , especially until the last third of the year. Sales, once the price effect was eliminated, had already surpassed 2019 levels by the end of 2021 and continued to grow at a good pace in 2022, reaching their highest levels 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 increasingly greater increases in the first half and a gradual deceleration in the second (the CPI and the IPRI with and without energy followed this pattern; (On the other hand, the core CPI, without the most volatile elements, continued to grow until December). Employment also lost momentum as the year progressed, but the slowdown was more gentle.

The largest growth was seen in direct taxes, which rose by 16.5% (despite the abolition of the Tax on the Value of Electric Energy Production) , while indirect taxes rose by 12% and fees and other revenues fell by 6.4%. The IRPF grew by 15.8% thanks to the increase in salaries and pensions and its 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 favourable evolution of profits both in 2022 (partial 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. The Excise Taxes together grew by 2.5%. Excluding the Electricity Tax, which was collected marginally due to measures to contain the cost of electricity, revenues were almost the same as three years earlier.