Spain Leads OECD In Raising Tax Burden As Government Considers Higher Taxes

spain tax collection

Spain is the country of the 34 that make up the OECD in which the tax burden is increasing the most. In 10 years, tax revenues have risen from 31.3% to 36.6% of GDP. According to the latest report published on Wednesday by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which brings together the most advanced economies on the planet, the tax burden grew by 1.9 percentage points in 2020 compared to the previous year. This leaves the Spanish indicator that measures the relationship between tax revenue and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at 36.6%.

In 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic – and the resulting plunge in GDP – the tax burden in Spain was 34.7%. In 2010, this indicator stood at just 31.3%, which has increased by more than five percentage points in a decade. In other words, 60 billion euros more in taxes. This rise in 10 years is one of the largest increases in the OECD, behind only Slovakia, Greece and South Korea. This has meant that Spain is already above the average for this “club” of advanced countries (33.5%).

Despite these figures, the Treasury has not yet pronounced the last word and is now studying more taxes to compensate for the tax cuts announced in recent days by the autonomous regions of the Partido Popular. In this respect, the Minister of Finance and Public Function, María Jesús Montero, stated this Wednesday in the Congress of Deputies that the Government is exploring a new tax on large fortunes. After defending the new taxes on large energy companies and banks which are currently before Congress, the Minister of Finance defended “continuing to explore it with large fortunes”, arguing that “we must ask for a greater contribution from those who have the most”.

This move by the Executive comes in response to Andalusia’s announcement to eliminate Wealth Tax, and other measures such as the deflation of personal income tax in that community and in Madrid, as well as the reduction of personal income tax in Murcia. A nod to his electorate, which has also been applauded by the far left. The spokesman for Unidas Podemos, Pablo Echenique, has welcomed the fact that the Treasury is open to the possibility of raising taxes on large fortunes, as it has done with energy and banking, as his group proposed in June in Congress. However, it was then rejected by his partners in the PSOE government.

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