5. Special Taxes

Revenue from Special Taxes grew to 23,083 million, 4.3% more than in 2024, mainly due to regulatory changes (Table 5.1). On the one hand, 2025 was the first full year in which the Electricity Tax rate was 5.11% after its reduction to 0.5% in September 2021 and its gradual recovery from the beginning of 2024. On the other hand, the increase in rates for the Tax on Tobacco Products came into effect on January 1, 2025. In addition, the new Tax on Liquids for Electronic Cigarettes came into force in 2025, although the impact on revenue from this new tax was smaller (30 million). Without the revenues derived from these regulatory changes, which amounted to 831 million (Table 1.5), the increase in revenue from Special Taxes would have been only 0.6%. In the other figures, it is worth noting the 4.8% increase in the Tax on Non-Reusable Plastic Containers and the 0.5% increase in the Tax on Hydrocarbons, and the 3.4% decrease in the total taxes on alcohol.

He value of consumption subject to Special Taxes It increased by 1.4% after two years of declines (Table 1.3). This change in trend is explained by the higher value of consumption of components with a large weight in the total such as electricity (6.1%) and tobacco products (1.5%), driven in both cases by higher prices, and, in the case of electricity also by an increase in consumption (3.2%; Table 5.7). In the case of tobacco, outings for consumption decreased by 4.5% (Table 5.6), due to the combined effect of higher prices and the impact of stockpiling that occurred at the end of 2024, anticipating the rise in interest rates in 2025.

The value of hydrocarbon consumption also decreased (-1.9%), as a consequence of the fall in prices (Table 9.1) and despite the 2% increase in consumption (Table 5.1), and the value of alcohol and beer, resulting from a drop in consumption of 1.3% of derivative beverages and 1.6% of beer.

The prices Energy sectors followed different paths in 2025. Thus, the average price of gasoline and diesel continued on the downward trend of previous years, with a drop of 3.9% (5.7% before taxes; Table 9.1), this time lower than that recorded by the price of a barrel of oil in euros, which decreased by 17.4% (unlike what happened in 2024, when the decrease in gasoline and diesel prices was greater than that of a barrel of oil in euros). However, the retail price of electricity increased by 8.8%, well above the pre-tax price which increased by only 2% (Table 5.7). This is because throughout the 2025 financial year, the VAT and Electricity Tax rates were at their normal levels, compared to only part of the 2024 financial year.

In tobacco products, the average retail price increased by 7.1% (5.5% before taxes, Table 9.2), registering increases in the average prices of both cigarette packs (6% average retail price and 2.9% before taxes) and the rest of the products (11.9% average retail price and 9.3% before taxes). The larger increase in retail prices compared to pre-tax prices is explained by the tax rate increase that came into effect on January 1 and affected all tobacco products.

Finally, the prices of alcoholic beverages registered a slight increase of 0.1%, with their price before taxes remaining unchanged.Table 5.2) and beer prices increased by 1.1% (1.2% before tax, Table 5.3).

The average effective rate in Special Taxes increased mainly due to regulatory changes. First, 2025 was the first full year since 2021 in which the Electricity Tax rate was 5.11%, after fully recovering in July 2024. Secondly, on January 1st, the increase in rates for the Tax on Tobacco Products came into effect. This, along with the increase in pre-tax prices, raised the effective tax rate on tobacco products by 7.8%, with notable differences between products: While the effective tax rate on cigarettes increased by 6.7%, the rate on other labor increased by 14.5%.

Although with less impact on the average aggregate rate, in 2025 the effective rate of gasoline, diesel and biofuels also increased slightly (0.4%), due to the change in the composition of consumption, as the consumption of gasoline, taxed at a higher rate, increased above the consumption of other fuels.

The Special taxes accrued grew by 3.8% in 2025 (Table 5.1) driven by the three main figures. On the one hand, the accrued Hydrocarbon Tax grew by 2.3% thanks to the increase in subject consumption. On the other hand, the increase in rates in the Tax on Tobacco Products allowed, despite the drop in consumption, an increase in the tax accrued of 3%. And finally, the full restoration of the Electricity Tax rate, along with higher consumption and prices, enabled a 28.3% increase in the tax accrued.

Revenue from the Hydrocarbons Tax, which accounts for more than half of the total revenue from these taxes, increased slightly, by 0.5%, to 12,366 million (Table 5.5 and Figure 5.1). This rate is lower than that recorded for consumption, which grew by 2%, and which, together with the moderate increase in the average effective rate, explains the 2.3% increase in accrued tax. Regarding consumption, there are significant differences between products, with increases of 7.8% for gasoline and only 0.1% for automotive diesel, which coincide, given the absence of rate changes, with the variations in the tax accrued on these products and fit with the progressive replacement of diesel vehicles. Regarding the discrepancy between the increases in accrued tax and cash receipts, there are several factors that justify it. On the one hand, the effect of the regional tax adjustments, which added almost 100 million less to cash income than in the 2024 financial year. Added to this is the also lower amount received in 2025 from income associated with deferrals. And finally, the existence of extraordinary refunds further reduced net revenue. Revenues from self-assessments, which are more closely aligned with the evolution of consumption, grew by 1.8%, just a few tenths below the increase in 2024.

Revenue from the tax on tobacco products increased by 6% (Table 5.6 and Chart 5.2) up to 7.34 billion. Of the 413 million increase in revenue compared to 2024, 365 million were due to the rise in interest rates, so without it, revenue would have been only slightly higher than in 2024. That small increase would have come from the rise in pre-tax prices, since consumer spending in 2025 fell by 4.5%, affected by higher prices, but also by the stockpiling that occurred at the end of 2024 prior to the rate hike. This episode is precisely what explains the discrepancy between the growth of accrued tax (3%) and cash receipts: The sharp increase in consumption outflows recorded at the end of 2024 was reflected in the tax accrued in 2024 and in the cash flow of 2025.

The new Tax on Liquids for Electronic Cigarettes raised 30 million in its first year. The first revenues were recorded in April and collections stabilized at just over 4 million per month from July onwards.

Revenue from the Electricity Tax amounted to 1.587 billion (Table 5.7 and Figure 5.3). The sharp increase of 42.8% compared to 2024 was mainly due to the return to the 5.11% rate, which was in effect throughout 2025, whereas in 2024 it was only in effect from July onwards. This differential effect contributed an additional 436 million to the revenue, which was also favored by higher consumption (3.2%) and by the increase in pre-tax prices. Eliminating the impact of the rate recovery, the increase in income would be reduced to 3.6%, a rate close to the evolution of consumption. In any case, the level reached, which is already comparable with the rest of the series, is the all-time high. A similar figure was only reached in 2012 (1.507 billion), but in the five years prior to 2020 the revenue was around 1.350 billion. The difference with the result in 2025, with lower consumption than then, gives an idea of ​​the jump that has occurred in prices.

Revenues from the Tax on Alcohol and Derived Beverages and from the Tax on Beer fell in 2025, by 3.8% and 2.8%, respectively (Tables 5.2 and 5.3), as a consequence of the fall in consumption (-1.3% and -1.6% respectively) and the gaps between accrual and cash.

Revenue from the Tax on Non-Reusable Plastic Packaging amounted to 599 million, 4.8% more than in 2024. The year was characterized by a lower volume of returns (which explains about two points of the growth in net income) and by a greater advance of imports (which grew by almost 7%) compared to domestic production (with a loss of close to 1%).

Finally, there are the marginal revenues from the Coal Tax, 9 million, less than half of what was collected in 2024.