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.
Collection in 2018 reached 208,685 million euros, 7.6 percent higher than that registered in 2017. Without the impact of SII , growth would have been 5.5 percent.
Likewise, in Table No. 13. Total net tax collection l New window and in the 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 analyzed in the previous section. Specifically, the positive result of the net annual declaration of Personal Income Tax in 2018 is due not only to the strong increase in income, but also to the lower growth of returns, this being the main cause that the increase in net collection in this figure exceeds that of gross income by one point. In corporate tax, revenue growth was slowed by the increase in refunds, both those from the annual declaration for the 2016 and 2017 campaigns, and those from settlements. Also in the Non-Resident Income Tax, the high returns from the annual declaration reduced the growth of income. 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 special taxes, the growth of net income exceeded that of gross income due to the lower returns made to the provincial territories.
The regulatory changes had a positive impact on revenue estimated at 3,746 million. Most of it comes from the noted effect of SII . Without it, the impact would be negative in the amount of 435 million and would have subtracted just over a tenth from income growth.
The SII was introduced in July last year and represented a shift in income from 2017 to 2018 valued at 4.15 billion. The cause of this shift was the delay in the deadline for submitting self-assessments, which moved from the 20th of the month following the accrual month to the 30th, meaning that, for accounting purposes, the income was shifted by one month. In principle, the impact in 2018 should have been that same figure (4.15 billion), but with a positive sign. However, the figure is lower due to changes in taxpayer behavior that occurred throughout the year. Since the beginning of the new system, it was observed that, despite the delay in the entry date, some taxpayers continued to file their returns on the 20th. The income of those taxpayers did not shift from 2017 to 2018. Now, the number of these taxpayers and the amount of their income decreased throughout the year; That is, there is an increasingly greater part of the income that is produced on the 30th of the month. When comparing with the previous year, this means that, in 2018, although the 4.150 million displaced from 2017 had been entered, in turn there was a new (minor) displacement to 2019 caused by taxpayers who moved from the presentation on the day 20th to presentation on the 30th. This is what explains why the impact is slightly lower than that recorded in 2017.
Not including SII , the impact of the remaining measures is negative, amounting to 435 million. The majority (-263 million) corresponds to the modification of the reduction for work income that especially affects low incomes (especially pensions) and that came into force together with the 2018 Budgets. 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. Among them, the refund of the tax paid for maternity and paternity benefits stands out, income that was declared exempt in ruling 1462/2018 of the Supreme Court, 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 also coming into force in 2018 were the increase in the Canon rate for the use of continental waters (7 million), and the elimination of the Tax on Hydrocarbons for some products used in the generation of electrical energy (-5 million ) which is contemplated, along with other modifications that will have an impact on 2019 income, in RDL 15/2018 on urgent measures for the energy transition and consumer protection.
The main figures are offered in Table nº 15. Adjustments for the impact of regulatory changes New window .