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 State Tax Administration Agency in 2023 reached 339,906 million euros, which represented a year-on-year increase of 5.9% (19,039 million more than in 2022).
Gross income grew due to the increase in the bases, particularly those linked to income, and was limited by tax reductions in IRPF and VAT. Main tax bases went up by 7.6%. Incomes rose by 10.6%, with sharp increases across the board, but especially in corporate profits. Spending remained more moderate (up 3.6%) due mainly to the fall in energy prices, which reduced the value of consumption subject to excise taxes; Yet, Spending subject to VAT advanced by 7.1% in the year overall. This evolution of the bases resulted in an 11% growth in gross revenue from direct taxes, which explains 5.8 points of the 5.9% growth in gross revenue. Revenues linked to expenditure (mainly and VAT) behaved very moderately, increasing in total by only 0.2% compared to last year. Finally, rates and other income fell by 1.6% year-on-year. On the other hand, regulatory and management changes effective in 2023 subtracted just over one point from gross revenue growth.
The increase in revenue occurred in a context of progressive moderation of activity, but high growth in nominal variables. The GDP in volume closed the year with an increase of 2.5%, after a first quarter growing at 4.1% and the pace slowing to around 2% in the rest of the year. The disappearance of the contribution that external demand was making up until the first quarter largely explains the loss of intensity in growth. A similar trend was observed in the main fiscal indicators. Both daily domestic sales and monthly sales of Large Companies to a constant population and quarterly sales of Large Companies and corporate SMEs, deflated and corrected for seasonal and calendar variations, offered the same panorama, with a gradual downward trend only altered in the last part of the year. However, in nominal terms the situation was different. A slowdown was also observed, although not in all variables that influence income and always with higher growth rates, a consequence of price increases, in any case, much lower than those of 2022. Nominal GDP growth stood at 8.6 for the year a whole. Domestic demand and household consumption expenditure, also domestic, are growing somewhat less (6% for the former and 7.1% for the latter), both in the context of income growth. The remuneration of employees, a key variable for monitoring tax withholdings, exceeded the figures for 2022 by 8.8%.
If gross income is analysed by figure, tax collection by 10.1%. Household income is estimated to have increased at a similar rate (9%). The main causes of growth were the increase in employment, wage and pension increases, and the increase in the effective rate associated with these increases. All of this led to a significant increase in tax withholdings on work income, which, however, was limited by the reduction in tax on the lowest incomes (which meant a loss of income of more than 1.7 billion). Although its weight in the tax is lower than that of the previous withholdings, there were also significant increases in withholdings on income from movable capital and in the fractional payments of personal companies. Withholdings on income from work and economic activities increased by 11%, 12.6% for those from public administrations and 10.3% for the private sector. The difference in the behaviour of each sector is determined by the sharp increase in withholdings linked to pensions, which have grown by around 19% since March (in February, compared to a month that had the last update payment). This increase occurred despite the effect of the rate cut on the lowest pensions. This impact was also felt by SMEs, whose income from withholdings grew by only 7.7% (without the rate cut, growth would have been 10.2%). In large companies, the reduction was less significant, but sufficient to reduce revenue growth by one point (they grew by 11.7%, but without the reduction they would have increased by 12.7%). Finally, in the withholdings derived from public salaries, the increase in 2023 was slightly less than 8%. The second largest contribution to the increase in taxes was from withholdings on income from movable capital, which grew by 28.4% thanks to the good performance of dividends and the recovery of income from withholdings on bank account interest in the wake of the rise in interest rates. As regards the annual declaration, the gross result was 7% higher than last year, although, as will be explained in the following section, the net result is lower due to the impact of the regulatory measures, among which those implemented by the Autonomous Communities in the section of their competence stood out (increase in family minimums, reduction in rates and increase in deductions).
Gross corporate tax revenues rose by 12.1%. Corporate profits increased by more than 10% in 2023, which was reflected in an increase in installment payments, the main component of income in this figure, of the same order. Part of the growth was due to the regulatory change that came into force at the beginning of 2023, whereby the tax base of a group was calculated in 2023 by adding the positive tax bases and 50% of the negative tax bases of the entities comprising it. The positive share of the annual declaration, corresponding to the 2022 settlement, also experienced a notable growth, exceeding 12%. As with payments, there was a regulatory change that boosted revenue; In this case, the minimum rate of 15%, which, although it was approved in the 2022 Budget, had its first application in the 2022 declaration submitted in 2023.
In the Non-Resident Income Tax, gross income grew by 17.8%. In this case, too, the significant increase is due to the increase in withholdings (mainly from dividends) and the increase in split payments.
Gross revenue from VATremained practically stable (-0.1%). The VATlinked to imports fell by 12.8% while the VATon domestic transactions increased by 3.5%. Subject spending grew by 7.1%. The difference is understandable if we consider the impact of the various regulatory and management changes, that is, the reduction in rates for energy, basic foodstuffs and also the new regulation on deferrals. The effect was the loss of more than 2.8 billion euros. If these millions are added, gross revenue growth would rise by almost two and a half points.
Gross revenue from Excise Taxes rose only 2.5% compared to that recorded in 2022. The growth was due to the Tax on Non-Reusable Plastic Packaging, new in 2023. Excluding the revenue from this tax (645 million), the total collection from Special Taxes in 2023 would be 0.6% lower than the previous year (-127 million). The main figure in this group of taxes, the Hydrocarbon Tax, practically repeated the level of 2022. The high price of gasoline and diesel for much of the year and the slowdown in economic activity hampered the evolution of these revenues, at least until the summer. In the last part of the year, an improvement in the main consumptions was already observed. In the Tobacco Tax, revenues increased by 0.4%. The year was marked by significant price increases, the largest of which had been inherited from the previous year. Alcohol taxes will see a reduction in revenue in 2023. In the first part of the year, the poor results were related to the comparison with periods of the previous year, but, after those moments, consumption continued to fall, particularly in higher alcohol content beverages. Electricity tax revenues remained marginal given the extension of the rate reduction from 5.11% to 0.5%, in force since mid-September 2021.
Revenue from fees and other revenues in Chapter III decreased by 1.6%. Rates increased, to a large extent, due to the recovery of the Fee for the use of inland waters for the production of electric energy, with no income in 2022 due to a Supreme Court ruling that led to the return of what was collected until 2021, while other income (surcharges, interest, penalties) was significantly reduced.
Table 12. Total gross tax collection (Annex).