3.2.4. Evolution of income for Special Taxes

Income from Excise Taxes increased by 2.5% in 2022 and totaled 20,224 million euros. Without the impact of the rate reduction in the Electricity Tax, growth would be 11.2%.

In 2022, collection remained below the 2019 records, although, if the Electricity Tax, negatively affected by the measures aimed at compensating for increases in the cost of electricity, is not included in the calculation, the level reached in 2022 It is approximately the same as then.

The low growth in revenue is a consequence, above all, of the poor performance of the Hydrocarbon Tax. Income in this figure grew by 4.3%, an insufficient rate to recover everything lost in 2020 and part of 2021 (in 2022 income is 2.3% lower than in 2019). The beginning of the year was favorable compared to a few months still weighed down by restrictions and the storm Filomena. But the subsequent recovery was not complete because consumption was slowed, first, by the high prices of gasoline and automotive diesel, the two main products, and, then, by the moderation that activity began to show. All of this had the consequence that the growth in gasoline consumption in the last part of the year was reduced to 2.6% compared to 10.7% for the year as a whole, while automotive diesel consumption was reduced every month. of the second half of the year.

The rest of the figures, on the other hand, showed a very favorable evolution in 2022. Revenue from the Tax on Tobacco Products grew by 9.3% after five years of declines in collection. The income level is similar to that observed in the period 2013-2017. Around 5 points come from the increase in prices, both in cigarettes and in other tasks (higher in the latter) and the rest from the increase in consumption.

Revenue from alcohol taxes also grew, in this case by 26.4%. The profile is similar to that mentioned for hydrocarbons: very high rates in the first part of the year compared to periods with limitations on hospitality and restaurant activities and more moderate in the second part of the year. In any case, the level reached by the collection is high even if compared to what the trend evolution of the series would have been without the collapse of 2020 and 2021. And it is also worth highlighting, although its weight is marginal, the income from the Coal Tax, double that collected a year before. As will be remembered, the collection had been reduced to practically nothing after the abandonment of coal in the production of electrical energy. The situation in the raw materials markets led to greater use of this source in 2022.