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 revenue managed by the Tax Agency in 2018 reached 258,154 million euros, 17,466 million more than that achieved in the same period of the previous year (7.3 percent increase). This growth was conditioned in part by the entry into force in July 2017 of the new Immediate Information Supply system ( SII ) of the VAT . Correcting for this effect, revenues would have grown by 5.7 percent.

The main reasons behind the growth in revenue were the increase in tax bases and the positive results of the annual declaration of IRPF .

The aggregate tax base of the main taxes is estimated to have grown by around 6 percent in 2018, almost one point higher than in 2017. It should be noted that, although the trend in real activity was downward throughout the year, in nominal terms the profile was different, at least as regards the tax bases. Thus, in the second half of the year there was, on the one hand, an additional growth in income thanks to the increases in wages and public pensions approved in July together with the 2018 Budget and the improvement in profits, and, on the other, a boost in the bases linked to expenditure as a consequence of price increases, especially in energy products. The result of the evolution of the bases was an increase in income from labor withholdings, from fractional payments in the Corporate Tax and from VAT which explain, between the three, a 90 percent of the growth recorded in 2018.

Growth was concentrated in particular in those related to direct taxes. Income tax revenue increased 6.5 percent driven by the increase in withholdings from work and gross income from the annual declaration. The split payments by personal companies and the withholding of personal capital also grew sharply (although their impact on tax growth is less), in this case also breaking the negative trend of previous years. Corporate tax revenues increased by 9.2 percent, due to the rise in instalment payments, the main component of the tax, which grew thanks to the good performance of profits, which also increased the weight of the minimum payment within said payments. In the Non-Resident Income Tax, revenues increased by 21.6 percent, which is also explained by the evolution of the bases (especially due to the improvement in dividends) and the result of the annual declaration.

Revenue from VAT (corrected from SII ) increased by 4.8 percent. Final expenditure subject to the tax is estimated to have grown by more than 5.5 percent in the year. Part of the difference between the two figures is due to the decrease in revenue from previous periods (a consequence of the changes in the management of deferrals that took place in 2017 and whose effects were carried over into 2018). Excise tax revenues grew by 0.5 percent. The tax with the greatest weight, the Hydrocarbon Tax, increased by 1.9 percent, in line with the evolution of gasoline and diesel consumption for automobiles. As usual, the Tobacco Tax had an irregular trajectory, with low amounts in the first part of the year, recovering to normal levels in the central months and strong increases and decreases in the final stretch. The result was a 1.5 percent decline in revenue. Electricity tax revenues rose by 3.6 percent compared to the previous year. Consumption remained modest and tax revenue only increased significantly when prices rose considerably in the second half of the year. Revenues from the coal tax fell by 13.1 percent, due to the high level reached in 2017, as a result of the drought at that time and the use of coal as a substitute in the generation of electricity. In alcohol-related taxes, revenues fell slightly.

Finally, in Chapter III (fees and other revenues), revenue in 2018 was 1.2 percent lower than in 2017. The main reason was the decrease in income from the fee for the use of continental waters, also as a consequence of the drought suffered in 2017, a year that was settled in 2018.

Table 12. Total gross tax collection.New window