3.2. Net tax collection
The net tax collection is the gross revenue net of refunds paid, including adjustments with the Basque provinces and Navarre. Moreover, it corresponds, to recording on a cash basis, unlike other items such as recognised rights or taxes for the purpose of National Accounting.
Tax collection in 2018 reached 208.685 billion euros, 7.6 percent higher than in 2017. Without the impact of SII , growth would have been 5.5 percent.
Also, in Table No. 13. Total net tax collection l New window and in Chart No. 14. Evolution of tax collection managed by the Tax Agency New window , this information is developed.
The evolution of the returns made explains the differences between the growth of net and gross income analysed in the previous section. Specifically, the positive result of the net annual declaration of IRPF in 2018 is due not only to the strong increase in income, but also to the lower growth of refunds, this being the main reason why the increase in net collection in this figure exceeds that of gross income by one point. In corporate tax, revenue growth was hampered by the increase in refunds, both from the annual declaration for the 2016 and 2017 campaigns and from liquidations. In the case of Non-Resident Income Tax, high annual tax refunds also hampered revenue growth. VAT (without the impact of SII ) grew by 3.9 percent, one point less than gross income, due to the high volume of returns made and adjustments with the provincial territories. Finally, in excise taxes, net revenue growth exceeded gross revenue growth due to lower refunds to the regional territories.
The regulatory changes had a positive impact on tax collection, estimated at 3.746 billion. Most of it comes from the noted effect of SII . Without it, the impact would have been negative, amounting to 435 million euros, and would have reduced revenue growth by just over a tenth.
The SII was introduced in July last year and resulted in a shift in revenue from 2017 to 2018 valued at 4.15 billion. The reason for this shift was the delay in the deadline for filing self-assessments, which moved from the 20th of the month following the accrual to the 30th, meaning that, for accounting purposes, the income was shifted by one month. In principle, the impact in 2018 should have been the same figure (4.15 billion), but with a positive sign. However, the figure is lower due to changes in taxpayer behaviour that occurred throughout the year. Since the start of the new system, it has been observed that, despite the delay in the filing date, some taxpayers continued to file their returns on the 20th. The income of these taxpayers did not shift from 2017 to 2018. However, the number of these taxpayers and the amount of their income decreased throughout the year; That is, an increasingly larger portion of income is produced on the 30th of the month. Compared to the previous year, this means that in 2018, although the 4.15 billion transferred from 2017 had been paid, there was also a new (smaller) shift to 2019 caused by taxpayers who moved from filing on the 20th to filing on the 30th. This explains why the impact is slightly lower than that recorded in 2017.
Not including the SII , the impact of the remaining measures is negative worth 435 million. The largest part (-263 million) corresponds to the modification of the reduction for work income that particularly affects low incomes (especially pensions) and that came into force together with the 2018 Budget. These budgets also included other regulatory changes, with a minor impact in 2018, such as: the reduction in the VAT rate in cinemas (-16 million, for the four months and one quarter of application), the new family deductions (-4 million) and the raising of the exempt minimum in the lottery tax (-5 million). Other measures also began to take effect in 2018. These include the refund of the tax paid on maternity and paternity benefits, income that was declared exempt in Supreme Court ruling 1462/2018, dated October 3, 2018. The refund affects the years 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 and began to be paid (94 million) in the last months of 2018. Two other measures that also came into force in 2018 were the increase in the rate of the Fee for the use of continental waters (7 million), and the elimination of the Tax on Hydrocarbons for some products used in the generation of electric energy (-5 million) which is contemplated, together with other modifications that will have an impact on income in 2019, in the RDL 15/2018 of urgent measures for the energy transition and the protection of consumers.
The main figures are given in Table 15. Adjustments for impact of regulatory changes New window .