The year 2022 left a record tax revenue in Spain of almost 255,500 million euros, an unprecedented amount driven mainly by the behavior of taxes such as personal income tax (109,500 million), VAT (82,500 million) or Companies (32,000 million euros). . For their part, special taxes, which make up the fourth most important tax figure in the country by volume of income, closed the year with a collection of around 20,000 million. It is a slight increase compared to the previous year that is explained, in part, by the good progress of alcohol consumption.
It must be taken into account that other taxes that are part of the group of special taxes, such as the one that affects electricity, have been residual after the tax cuts approved by the Government to alleviate the population in the face of rising prices. Others, such as hydrocarbons or tobacco, have recovered the pre-pandemic figures.
In the past year, taxes on alcohol and derivative beverages and taxes on intermediate products (including fortified wines or Port wine) reached figures not seen in more than a decade. The first group exceeded 1,000 million euros and the second, 26 million. The tax on beer, for its part, registered record income in the historical series of the Tax Agency that starts in 1995, and reached 374 million euros.
The only cause of these upturns “is the rise in consumption, because tax rates have not increased in recent years,” explains Natalia Hidalgo, a lawyer specializing in excise taxes and customs at NH Asesores. In 2021, after the halt in activity caused by the pandemic, alcohol tax revenue rebounded, but failed to recover the levels prior to the health crisis. In 2022, however, the numbers of the years prior to Covid-19 have been far exceeded and, together, alcohol taxes exceed 1.4 billion euros in collection for the first time in the series.
The Spanish tax system on alcohol, continues the lawyer, has both zero rates – such as the one that affects wine and cava – as well as taxes of greater magnitude.
Within the objective scope of excise taxes, he adds, the highest is the rate on alcohol and derivative beverages, with 958.94 euros per hectoliter of pure alcohol. In this group are, for example, distillates.
Below are the intermediate products, with a rate of 38.48 euros per hectoliter of alcoholic strength by volume not exceeding 15% and another of 64.14 euros from this graduation. In this group are fortified wines (finos, amontillados, manzanillas…), port wine (vintage, tawny, ruby, colehita, etc.), mistelas or muscatel liqueur wines, flavored wines and vermouths and other aperitifs. .
Another group is beer. This product has six different tax rates depending on its intensity: from 2.75 euros per hectoliter with an alcoholic graduation between 1.2% and 2.8% per liter, up to 0.91 euros per hectoliter and per degree to from a graduation of 19%.
Still and sparkling wines and sparkling fermented beverages have a zero rate, recalls Hidalgo. For this reason, he adds, the State would have greater collection if it decided to tax the wine and cava sector in some way.
All these tax rates already have several years of existence. Those that affect alcohol and derivatives and intermediate products date from 2016, while those that affect beer start from the year 2005. For this reason, the only reason for the rise in collection is the increase in consumption, emphasizes the lawyer.
Below the EU
Spain is one of the European Union countries with the lowest alcohol taxation. According to the figures compiled in the White Paper for Tax Reform, presented at the beginning of 2022 to the Ministry of Finance, Spain taxes a quantity of 700 milliliters with 40% alcohol at 2.69 euros, below 5.13 euros. on average in the EU and well below the 14 euros of Sweden or Finland.
The tonic is similar with beer. Spain has a rate of 0.03 euros per 330 milliliters, also less than the 0.14 euro community average. In wine the difference is much larger. In Spain, the tax is fully subsidized while the average in the EU is 1.29 euros for each standard bottle of 750 milliliters. Spain, in fact, could collect about 1,000 million euros more if it taxed alcohol at the European level.
The new plastic tax takes off
The latest collection data offered by the Tax Agency not only shows what the trend for 2022 has been, but also brings to light the numbers for the first two months of 2023, the first in which the new excise tax on non-reusable plastic containers. In January and February, this tax entered 989,000 euros and 41.4 million euros, respectively. As Natalia Hidalgo explains, “there are still many uncertainties about the application of this tax.” In fact, being almost newborn, “a modification has already been announced that in theory will simplify and clarify some aspects, so it is normal that the cruise tax figures have not yet been reached.”
For the moment, the tax base of this tax, which is also included in the group of excise taxes, is made up of the amount of non-recycled plastic, expressed in kilograms, contained in the products subject to the tax. The applicable tax rate is 0.45 euros per kilogram of non-recycled plastic and different penalties are contemplated with pecuniary fines proportional to 50% of the quota not paid and a minimum of 1,000 euros.
Follow all the information of Five days in Facebook, Twitter and Linkedinor in our newsletter Five Day Agenda
#Beer #alcohol #taxes #close #record #revenues #decade