SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Aug. 6 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The accumulated collection of the IGIC during the first half of the year stood at 931 million euros, according to data from the Canary Islands Tax Agency, an amount that represents an 11.7 percent increase over 2019 -the last exercise carried out under normal economic circumstances – and seven points less compared to the data for the first quarter, when it increased by 19%, also in relation to the same period of 2919.
The Canarian Vice President and Minister of Finance, Budgets and European Affairs, Román Rodríguez, recalled in a note that he had already been anticipating the slowdown in the rate of collection of the IGIC, the most important tax of the Canarian Financing Block (BFC), and, in In parallel, the increase in public spending that administrations such as the Canary Islands must face, in addition, with the consideration that 58% of the collection for this concept goes to councils and municipalities, compared to 42% that remains in the coffers regional.
In relation to this last aspect, Rodríguez has insisted that the obligations of the Executive have multiplied in recent years due to the pandemic -which forced the reinforcement of essential public services and the release of extraordinary funds to help the productive sectors – and, now, with the escalation of prices.
“This means -explained the vice president- that we will need all available resources to maintain the intensity of the services we provide to citizens and also to activate aid to the sectors of society and the economy that are most exposed to inflation”.
In this sense, while the collection of the IGIC has grown by 11.7% in the first half of this year compared to 2019, the Government of the Canary Islands has consolidated public spending that has more than doubled in the same period, from According to Treasury calculations. When evaluating revenue growth, it must also be taken into account, with respect to 2019 data, that then the general IGIC rate was 6.5% and now it is 7%, which explains part of the increase.
According to the monthly report prepared by the Canarian Tax Agency, the increase highlights the economic recovery and greater consumption due to the normalization of the arrival of tourists and the greater savings generated during the crisis caused by covid-19. In addition to these circumstances, the general rise in prices also influences, which increases the tax bases of this tax.
CANARY FINANCING BLOCK
The accumulated collection of the so-called Canarian Financing Block -which includes, in addition to the IGIC, the AIEM and the Registration Tax- reached 1,054 million euros, which represents an increase of 14% compared to the year 2019. Of that total amount , councils and municipalities are the main beneficiaries, receiving 58%.
In a disaggregated manner, 110 million euros were entered for the AIEM and 8.5 million for the Registration Tax. With regard to own and assigned taxes, collection reached 482.6 million euros, 9.3% more than during the first half of 2019.
Within this section of own and assigned taxes, the Special Tax on Fuels Derived from Petroleum stands out, whose accumulated collection has fallen by 8.45 compared to the first half of 2019, going from 164.4 million euros to 150 million raised so far in 2022.
The collection of this tax has not been affected by inflation, because it is not an ‘ad valorem’ tax -according to the transaction value-, but rather a special tax that falls on the liters of fuel that are subject to wholesale delivery.
In this sense, the levels of gross collection have practically reached the amounts collected before the start of the crisis caused by covid-19, which shows the economic recovery in the sectors affected by fuel consumption.
The net amount of collection of this tax is below the monthly amounts of previous years due to the increase in the percentage in the Refund of professional diesel and gasoline in the Special Tax on Fuels Derived from Petroleum agreed by the Government of the Canary Islands in order to alleviate the energy crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine.
The circumstance occurs that the Government approved in March an increase in the return that it practiced to carriers, farmers and ranchers, which went from 68% to 99.9%. In four months, the fiscal cost of this measure has been almost 6 million euros. In total, the Government has returned 23.2 million euros this year.
