Introduction

Tax revenues amounted to 271.935 billion euros, with a growth of 6.4% compared to those recorded in 2022.

The increase in revenue in 2023 was preceded by two years with high increases in revenue (15.1% in 2021 and 14.4% in 2022). However, these two years were compared with periods with an atypical situation: in 2021 with the moments of confinement and in 2022 with a year in which normality had not yet returned and in which inflationary tensions reached their maximum.

The two features that characterized the year were the increase in the bases, particularly household income and corporate tax, and the impact of regulatory measures, especially those related to rate cuts in the PIT and in the VAT. The aggregate tax base of the main taxes grew by 7.6%, with 10.6% for those related to income and 3.6% for those related to expenditure. In the former, increases were observed in all components (wages, pensions, capital gains, etc.), although the largest increase was recorded in the taxable base of the Corporate Tax. In terms of expenditure, however, growth was more moderate, conditioned by the drop in energy prices, which affected the value of consumption subject to special taxes. In the part of the VATHowever, spending increased by 7.1%.

Regulatory and management changes had a negative impact in 2023 valued at 3,342 million, which means that, in the absence of measures, revenue would have grown by 7.8%, a rate consistent with the evolution of the bases. These impacts were more intense in some figures, as is the case of the PIT and of the VAT. In it PIT The cost of the measures was 3.841 billion, almost all of which was concentrated in two measures: the increase in the reduction for work income that benefited the lowest salaries and pensions, and the various measures approved by the CC. AA. in the part of the PIT over which they have jurisdiction and which were aimed, for the most part, at offsetting the effects of inflation, through the increase of family minimums, partial deflation of the rate and the implementation of new deductions or the expansion of existing ones. The first represented a loss of 1,726 million in withholdings for the year and in the second the negative impact on net income is valued at 1,677 million. As for the I VAT, the reduction in revenue due to the measures amounts to 3.097 billion, of which 2.452 billion were due to the reduction in rates on energy, basic food, and feminine hygiene products and contraceptives.

A more disaggregated analysis of revenues reveals the notable differences between the 10.1% growth recorded by direct taxes (PIT, Corporate Income Tax, Non-Resident Income Tax, environmental taxes and other taxes of little significance to the State) and the 1.7% increase in revenue from indirect taxes (including fees and other revenues).

As far as the four main figures are concerned, the income from the PIT grew by 9.9%. Household income is estimated to have increased at a similar rate (9%). The main causes of growth were the increase in employment, wage and pension increases, and the increase in the effective rate associated with these increases. All of this led to a significant increase in tax withholdings on work income, which, however, was limited by the reduction in tax on lower incomes. Although its weight in the tax is lower than that of the previous withholdings, there were also significant increases in withholdings on income from movable capital and in the fractional payments of personal companies.

In corporate tax, revenue grew by 9%. The profits of large companies and groups increased by more than 15% in 2023, which was reflected in a growth of the same order in fractional payments, the main component of income in this figure. Part of the increase was due to the regulatory change that came into force at the beginning of 2023, whereby the tax base of a group was calculated in 2023 by adding the positive tax bases and 50% of the negative tax bases of the entities comprising it. The positive share of the annual declaration, corresponding to the 2022 settlement, also experienced a significant increase, exceeding 12%. As with payments, there was a regulatory change that increased revenues; In this case, the minimum rate of 15%, which, although it was approved in the 2022 Budget, had its first application in the 2022 declaration submitted in 2023. Despite these two elements, the tax as a whole grew by only 9% as a result of the high amount of refunds in 2023, most of them corresponding to the 2021 financial year.

In indirect taxes, the collection by the VAT grew by 1.6%. The subject expenditure was 7.1%. The difference is explained by the impact of various regulatory and management changes (the reduction in rates on energy and basic foodstuffs, the new regulation on deferrals and extraordinary refunds). If the income lost due to these measures is added, the increase in revenue would be 5.3%, more in line with the evolution of spending, and even more so if one takes into account that the rate cuts have an immediate impact on gross income (which was virtually the same as in 2022), but delayed on the refunds made (they decreased by 3.8% when the applications decreased by almost 6%).

Excise tax revenues increased by 2.6%, thanks to the Tax on Non-Reusable Plastic Packaging, new in 2023. Excluding the revenue from this tax, total collection from Excise Taxes would have been slightly lower than in 2022 (-58 million). The main figure in this group of taxes, the Tax on Hydrocarbons, barely grew (0.6%). The high price of gasoline and diesel for much of the year and the slowdown in economic activity hampered the evolution of these revenues. In the Tobacco Tax, revenues increased by 0.5%. The year was marked by significant price increases, the largest of which had been inherited from the previous year. Tax revenue on alcohol fell (-7.2%), particularly on higher-alcohol beverages. Electricity tax revenues remained marginal given the extension of the rate reduction from 5.11% to 0.5%, in force since mid-September 2021. ##10008195####10008195##