3.1. Gross tax collection
The gross amount of tax collected comprises the effective incomes obtained in the fiscal year from both the self-assessment tax returns filed by taxpayers and from the settlements carried out by the Tax Agency. It is therefore set on a cash basis.
The total gross collection managed by the Tax Agency in 2021 reached 275,781 million euros, 27,434 million more than that achieved in the same period of the previous year (11% increase).
The fundamental cause of the increase in income was the recovery of tax bases, whose growth is provisionally estimated at around 13%, exceeding those observed in 2019 by around 4%. On the contrary, the numerous measures of different nature that had an impact on collection did not represent, in net terms, a significant figure.
The economic context was characterized by the constant improvement in activity and the rise in prices. After a problematic start marked by the effects of the third wave of infections and the impact of Storm Filomena, the evolution of the main activity indicators was in continuous progress, especially in the second half of the year. Thus, real GDP, which in the first quarter showed a decline of 0.2% compared to the last quarter of 2020, in the fourth quarter increased by 2.3% compared to the third. For its part, membership began to register growth compared to 2019 figures starting in June and the figure for December was already more than 2% higher than that of the same month of that year, although the comparison was still conditioned by the validity of the ERTE. Something similar was observed in the daily sales provided by the VAT Immediate Information Supply system, the closest available indicator to the present. Until the end of March, sales were even lower than those of 2020, but, after that month, sales recovered and since August they were decidedly above those of 2019, ending the year with growth above 20% compared to 2020 and 4% compared to 2019 as a whole. The improvement in daily sales was influenced by both the real component and price increases, which became more pronounced as the year progressed. Industrial prices (without energy) had begun to recover the growth rates prior to the pandemic in the last months of 2020 and from the first months of 2021 they showed a clear upward trend, although this was not reflected in the central core of the prices of consumption until the second half of the year. Energy prices were added to this process, with very intense increases since March. The final result was that, although in the average of the year the CPI only increased by 3.1% (0.8% the underlying), in recent months the highest increases in many years were recorded.
If gross income is analyzed by figures, personal income tax collection increased by 5.9%. It is a smaller increase than that observed in other figures, but it must be remembered that in 2020 these incomes increased, in contrast to the general drop in the rest of taxes, thanks to the cushion provided by public income (salaries of the Public Administrations, pensions, transfers linked to ERTE and aid to the self-employed). In fact, if the comparison is made with 2019, it is concluded that this figure is the one that contributes the most to growth. Withholdings for income from work and economic activities, which are the main component of the tax, grew by 6.1%. The growth in the public sector and the private sector was similar, although in the former the increase was almost the same as the previous year and in the private sector it represented a recovery after the fall of 2020 that also allowed it to nearly surpass of 5% the income registered in 2019. The growth in SMEs stood out especially (14.7%; 5.4% compared to 2019). In the same sense, the fractional payments of personal companies stood out (17.3% and 5.6% more than in 2019). In the withholdings for capital income, the most notable was the exceptional increase in those derived from profits in funds. investment (86.1%, more than doubling what there was in 2019).
Income from Corporate Tax increased by 27.7%, more than compensating for the sharp drop in the previous year. In 2020, most of the decrease was due to the decrease in installment payments due to the decrease in activity due to the pandemic and in 2021 the most important cause of growth has in turn been the increase in them (50.2 %). However, the payment figure is also good if compared to 2019 (12.4% higher). Revenues in 2021 also benefited from some extraordinary operations; If this is taken into account, payments would still be above 2019, but only by 3.5%.
In the Non-Resident Income Tax, income grew by 15.1% without being able to recover what was lost in 2020. The main reason was the evolution of capital income, which grew, but not enough. Gross VAT revenue rose 11.9%, more than offsetting last year's 9.4% drop. Collection was 1.4% higher than in 2019. The increase would have been greater if it had not been for the reduction in the rate on domestic electricity consumption in force since the last days of June, which subtracted just over 500 million from income. The recovery of spending was the main cause of the increase in gross income, which was especially intense, as has been noted in personal income tax, in SMEs (16.4%, 2.3% over 2019).
Income from Special Taxes was 5.2% above those registered in 2020, but they were the ones that, among the big figures, had the worst results in 2021. Very diverse factors influenced the result. In the Hydrocarbon Tax, revenue increased by 11.3%, but in 2020 it had decreased by 14.9%. Its evolution throughout the year was one of progressive improvement, but not at a sufficient pace to reverse the decline of the previous year. The limitations on mobility that still existed at the end of 2020 and the effects of the Filomena storm at the beginning of the year, together with the sharp rise in prices, hampered the recovery. The drop recorded in the Tax on Tobacco Products (-1.9%) is the fifth consecutive in recent years.
Consumption of the main product (cigarettes) was once again reduced and average prices decreased (due to substitution by cheaper varieties) despite the fact that in the last quarter there were increases in the most representative brands. In the Electricity Tax, the decrease in income (-12.2%) is explained by the decrease in the rate in force since mid-September and for which an impact of 336 million is estimated. With this amount, income would be approximately at the same level as in 2019, with higher prices than then. In alcohol taxes, after a very negative start due to poor consumption data at the end of 2020, high rates were recorded that brought growth in the year to 7.1%, but revenues never exceeded the of 2019 (-12.1% compared to that year).
Finally, the gross collection from Chapter III of Fees and other income reached the figure of 2,704 million (12.1% more than in 2020), which was the average collection of this chapter in the years 2017-2019 (subtracting in the latter the excess of that year in the Canon due to the use of continental waters).
Table 12. Total gross tax collection New window (Exhibit).