six large ibex banks paid 12.552 million taxes in 2023 by paying the corporate tax paid in the first three months of the year compared to the previous year and the extraordinary tax that banks have already paid 1,120 million lira. Organizations were subject to special tax, which the Government justified due to the increase in sector profits due to the European Central Bank increasing interest rates. Listed banks allocated $11,432 million to the Companies’ payments at a consolidated level last year; This is 17.4% more than the total €9,736 million they paid in 2022, but it should be noted that Unicaja is also included. permanent market. The extraordinary tax was approved in principle for two years, but the Administration also extended it until 2024. Financial industry forecasts show that these companies will have to pay up to 1,493.5 million this year for ‘extra’ profits from last year. This means 30% more.
Among major banks CaixaBank is the company that expects to pay a larger amount of this tax in 2024. The organization believes it will pay up to 500 million. Banco Santander believes it will have to pay up to 338.5 million, while Sabadell estimates it will pay 190 million and Bankinter estimates it will pay between 90 and 100 million. Market estimates suggest Unicaja could pay between 90 and 100 million. In addition to this special tax, the increase in interest rates and the revival of banking activities also increased the profits of the sector and the taxes paid by institutions. “The payment of these taxes, as well as other taxes, places Spanish banks first in Europe in terms of their contribution to the public coffers. Banking is one of the most preferred sectors both in Spain and in the countries in which it operates. Spanish Banking Association spokesman José Luis Martínez said that the Welfare State “It contributes to its preservation,” he says.
Increase in banking profits (listed banks earned 26,336 million euros, an increase of 26.32% compared to 2022) It occurs in an environment of high political noise due to criticism from the most radical sections of the Government who criticize what they consider excessive profits.. Ione Belarra, secretary general of Podemos, a party that is no longer in the Government despite having ministers in the last legislative term, announced that his party will submit a proposal to the Minister of Economy, Trade and Business Carlos Body. Strengthening the extraordinary tax on banking so that 50% of each organization’s profits are collected over the next six years.
Organizations bring tax to justice
This tax was designed by the Government of Pedro Sánchez in July 2022 to tax the extraordinary profits made by banks as a result of the rate increase. The financial industry never shared this vision and pointed out that interest margins did not grow as much as profits., so they challenged this tax in court. “We believe that continuing this type of special taxation for banking would be counterproductive for both the Spanish economy and banking. And a robust financial sector It is important to continue to grow José Luis Martínez, spokesman for the Association of Spanish Banks, explains: The rise in interest rates has contributed to increased banking profits, but experts point out that profitability does not cover the sector’s cost of capital. “The profitability of Spanish banks is still below the profits achieved by many of their European counterparts,” says Martínez.
The extraordinary tax is paid in two parts: the first in February and the second in September.. Each of these payments is made for half the estimated payment. For this reason, after companies approve their final accounts, an advance payment is made that can be reviewed later. Adjustments or revisions may be made until then.
Although this extraordinary tax has been temporarily applied for two years, for the years 2023 and 2024 (by adding up the results of 2022 and 2023, respectively), The government’s aim is to make this permanent. New Economy Minister Carlos Body argued in an interview with the Prensa Ibérica group last week that the tax imposed on banks did not prevent the sector from making record profits.
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After taking office, the Corps met with various organizations, some of which requested that the tax be changed to reduce what it considered “discriminatory nature.”. The current configuration excludes entities earning less than 800 million euros in interest margin and net commissions, as reported by institutions such as Bankinter, Banco Santander or CaixaBank, in favor of foreign banks operating in Spain.
The Ministry of Finance estimates that it will obtain a resource of approximately 3 billion euros thanks to extraordinary banking taxes and energetic. These are provisional calculations. In banking, this tax is likely to increase, but in the energy sector, the decline in profits in the sector is also likely to reduce the amount collected from the special tax. Last year, banks’ tax collection was 1 billion 263 million euros; This is less than half of the 2 billion 900 million euros collected together with the tax on energy companies.