They remain unbeatable in Spain and reached almost 255,000 million euros at the end of October, a marked increase of 8.3% compared to the same period of the previous year, when by this time some 235,000 million had been obtained. In the absence of what happens in November and December, after the successive records set in 2021, 2022 and 2023, first as a consequence of the economic recovery after the impact of the pandemic and, later, due to the effect of inflation and the boost of the labor market.
According to data published this Friday by the Tax Agency, the Treasury collected 49,861 million euros in October, with an annual increase of 10% which shows that the collection process is advancing at a good pace. This is explained by the effect that this month usually has on the historical series. As the Tax Agency recalls in a note, October is the period with the highest collection of the year, with income “from the usual monthly declarations, from the third quarter declarations of SMEs and from the second payment, in the latter case liquidating the April-September period.”
In fact, continues the agency dependent on the Ministry of Finance, the results reveal “a very positive behavior of both the quarterly declarations of SMEs and the second payment of corporate tax.” On the one hand, in SMEs, withholdings on employment income, gross VAT and installment payments from personal businesses grew at a faster rate than they did in previous periods. On the other hand, in the corporate tax, profits until September increased above 13%, and payments did close to that figure. This figure contributed 19,725 million euros in the month, followed by personal income tax (14,284 million), VAT (12,840 million) and special taxes (1,991 million). The rest of the taxes added up to about 1,000 million more.
In the usual monthly income, the Tax Agency highlights, “the strong pace in withholdings from work is maintained”, with an improvement in the evolution of large companies – in the previous three months they showed a certain tendency towards moderation – and in withholdings on income from capital and on capital gains in investment funds.
The evolution until the tenth month of the year could have been even greater, with an annual increase of more than 9%, according to Treasury calculations, if it were not for the negative impact on collection that the regulatory changes approved in recent months by the Government. One of them is the tax reduction in personal income tax for low incomes, the result of increasing the reduction for income from work, which has cut income by about 1,200 million. Another is the end of the tightening that was imposed on consolidated groups last year, a measure that is no longer in force and that has subtracted almost 480 million from collections.
The Tax Agency also highlights that they recognize a refund in personal income tax. To date, the negative impact for the Treasury has been around 2,000 million euros. If these measures that reduce income are added to those that promote them – such as the gradual recovery of the usual tax rates on energy VAT -, the net balance for the Treasury is equivalent to a loss of 1,909 million euros so far in 2024. .
