News on Excise and environmental taxes

In accordance with binding ruling V5412-26, non-permeable coffee capsules that retain the coffee residue or "grounds" inside after use will be considered "packaging" under sector regulations, i.e., Regulation (EU) 2025/40, from 12 August 2026 onwards. From that date, they will also fall within the scope of the Special Tax on Non-Reusable Plastic Packaging, provided they are non-reusable, as defined in Article 68.1.a) of Law 7/2022, and contain plastic as defined in point (u) of Article 2 of the aforementioned Law 7/2022.

Once the evolution of the CPI for electricity in the months of June and July 2026 is known, the reduced rate of 0.5% of the Special Tax on Electricity is not applicable since the year-on-year variation of the CPI for electricity in June and July 2026, respectively, did not exceed the threshold of 15% established in said provision. Consequently, during the months of August and September 2026, the rate of 5.11269632%, provided for in section 1 of article 99 of Law 38/1992, of December 28, on Special Taxes, is applicable.

An instruction document is made available to taxpayers in the "Help" section of the Electronic Office of the Special Tax on Electricity, the purpose of which is to facilitate the submission of form 560. To this end, instructions are provided for the correct completion of the settlement table and the table of breakdown of quotas and amounts declared.

Information on the tax rates for the Hydrocarbons Tax applicable in August 2026 is available, in accordance with the provisions of Article 6 of Royal Decree-Law 18/2026, of June 29, which adopts certain measures within the framework of the Comprehensive Response Plan to the Crisis in the Middle East, once the evolution of the CPI for gasoline and diesel in June 2026 is known.

Royal Decree-Law 18/2026, of June 29, which adopts certain measures within the framework of the Comprehensive Response Plan to the Crisis in the Middle East, contains, among other tax measures, the reduction of the tax rate to 15 euro cents per liter in July, to 10 euro cents per liter in August and to 5 euro cents per liter in September. However, lower rates are expected in August and September if in June or July 2026 the variation in the CPI of gasoline or diesel exceeds by more than 15% the CPI of the same month in 2025.

Articles 12 and 13 of Royal Decree-Law 18/2026, of June 29, which adopts certain measures within the framework of the Comprehensive Response Plan to the Crisis in the Middle East, establish that the tax rate of the Special Tax on Electricity provided for in section 1 of article 99 of Law 38/1992, of December 28, on Special Taxes, will be able to to be reduced in the months of August and September 2026 5.11269632 percent to 0.5 percent.

Pursuant to Article 14 of Royal Decree-Law 18/2026, of June 29, new reductions to the taxable base of the Tax on the Value of Electricity Production are introduced for the year 2026.

Article 15 also introduces the applicable tax rate for the 2027 and 2028 fiscal years.

Section TWO of Article 40 of Royal Decree-Law 7/2026 establishes a clause to deactivate the reduction of the tax rate of the Special Tax on Electricity provided for in Article 99.1 of the Law on Special Taxes (going from 5.11269632 to 0.5 percent) by stating that"If in April the variation in the CPI for electricity does not exceed by more than 15 percent the CPI of the same month of the previous year, according to the information published in May by the National Institute of Statistics, the reduction of the rate regulated in section One of this article will cease to apply in June.".

On April 15, 2026, between 09:30 and 11:00, a webinar will be held to inform wineries about the applicable regulations and procedures, regarding special taxes, to be followed when carrying out wine dealcoholization operations.

…

Pursuant to Article 41 of Royal Decree-Law 7/2026, of March 20, which approves the Comprehensive Response Plan to the Crisis in the Middle East, the taxable base of the Tax on the Value of Electricity Production for the year 2026 is reduced by 10% of the remuneration corresponding to the electricity incorporated into the system during the first calendar quarter and by the total remuneration corresponding to the electricity incorporated into the system during the second calendar quarter. This reduction must be taken into account for the calculation of the corresponding installment payments and the annual self-assessment.