Professor's presentation

Every person has to make a series of expenses to live, because they have to cover some basic needs (among others, food, clothing and housing). These and other expenses, when we are young, are paid by our parents, but when we are older and have a job, each of us organizes our expenses and income, calculating what we can spend with the money we have and deciding what we will spend it on. That is, you make a budget with which you live.

In your case, when you receive a tip or the pocket money you get at home, you know what you can use it for and what it's going to be used for, but you can't use it to buy things or go to places that cost more than the amount you received. Therefore, when, taking into account the amount of money you have, you finally decide how you are going to spend it or, on the contrary, whether you are going to save all or part of it, you are also making your budget.

However, there are not only individual needs, but also collective needs (educational, healthcare, social action, police, environmental, judicial, and many others). These are those that each person could not afford to meet individually, but which can be met through the contributions of everyone.

These collective needs give rise to public expenditure, for example, the expenditure required to provide a network of schools with educators dedicated to teaching; to enjoy a network of libraries; of hospitals with adequate healthcare personnel; of sports centers for practicing sports and also to watch our athletes. Likewise, public expenditures must be made to repair the streets of the city in which you live; to illuminate them and collect garbage; to make and maintain parks and gardens; to build and repair roads and highways; to have a fire service; to be able to pay the military and police, who are responsible for our defense and security; to be able to access benefits, subsidies and social assistance.

Because, what would you think if there were no public schools, no hospitals, no firefighters, no police, no pensions? What would you think if there were no lights on the streets or the garbage wasn't collected? Public spending is for benefit of all and therefore we should all pay for .

This is what taxes are for. These are amounts of money that citizens are required by law to pay so that the State, the Autonomous Communities, and the Municipalities have sufficient resources to cover public expenses.

Just as it's important for your personal finances and your family's finances to know how much money you have and what you can spend with that money, it's also important for the State, the Autonomous Communities, and the City Councils. For this reason, the State and other Public Administrations prepare income and expenditure accounts, which are called budgets. The most important law in Spain is the General State Budget Law, which authorizes the government to collect a series of revenues from citizens and to make certain expenditures in order to satisfy collective needs.