The Congress approved three provisional taxes during a Thursday session, targeting banks, the energy sector, and high-value assets. The government expects roughly 5,000 million euros from each tax over two years, totaling 10,000 million across 2023 and 2024. The package passed by 186 votes in favor, 152 against, and 10 abstentions, with a broad coalition backing it. The support came from the Socialist Party, United We Can, ERC, EH Bildu, Together, the Canary Islands Coalition, BNG, and other lawmakers from the Mixed Group, while opposition parties PP, Citizens, and Vox voted against. Lawmakers from the PNV and PDeCat abstained.
Parliamentary groups aligned with the government, primarily PSOE and United We Can, pushed for urgent measures intended to be in place before December 31 and to implement the new levies starting January 1, 2023, based on income and assets declared in 2022. The measure goes to the Senate to complete the parliamentary process after gaining plenary approval in the Congress on Thursday.
The government defended the taxes as a way to secure additional resources to support relief measures for families and businesses most affected by the energy crisis and inflation. The proposal leaves the door open to assess permanence after 2024 and to consider making the taxes permanent if conditions justify it.
Socialist spokesperson Peter Casares argued that the tax targets a set of interests that protect banks and energy companies more than the public. For United We Can, Txema Grával underscored that the aim is to ensure those who benefited from a difficult situation participate in the relief effort and to emphasize the legality of the measure, urging the opposition to clarify any legal objections.
The PP opposed the bill and its spokesperson Gabriel Elorriaga warned that the new taxes could face court challenges, predicting most would be struck down. He pointed to concerns that the asset tax, set at over 3 million euros, might be unconstitutional and noted that the package ties revenue-raising elements to amendments affecting the banking and energy taxes.
Specifics of the new taxes approved at the plenary session are outlined below:
bank tax
The bank tax imposes a 4.8 percent levy on both commission and net interest income for the largest financial institutions with more than 800 million euros in revenue in each category. It targets income generated within Spain and applies to foreign entities doing business on the national soil. The Treasury expects approximately 1,500 million euros to be collected from this levy in each of the two years it is in force.
energy tax
The energy tax sets a 1.2 percent charge on the activity of energy sales companies with annual turnover above 1,000 million euros, companies that derive at least 75 percent of their revenue from mineral extraction, and which conduct activities on Spanish soil. The tax affects foreign firms operating domestically, while excluding activities from regulated electricity and gas tariffs and other regulated services from the tax base. The Treasury initially projected about 2 billion euros in revenues from this tax over the two years it would apply.
Heritage
The new measure, described as a temporary solidarity tax on great wealth, is structured as a state-level tax starting at three million euros in net worth for individuals. Taxpayers may deduct amounts already paid under wealth taxes administered by their autonomous communities. This means it will combine with regional rules where wealth taxes exist and where they have lower rates, such as Catalonia, while regions like Madrid and Andalusia that have repealed their wealth tax will see different impacts. The Treasury estimates roughly 23,000 taxpayers fall into the three-million-euro bracket and projects additional annual revenue of about 1.5 billion euros in each of the two years the tax applies.
loss compensation
The bill also includes a provision that limits the reimbursement probability for subsidiaries to 50 percent in 2023. The remaining portion will be incorporated into the corporate tax base at an equal rate across the first ten tax periods beginning January 1, 2024. The projected revenue impact over 2023 and 2024 is about 2,439 million euros. Treasury officials describe the measure as a deferral of a tax advantage required to offset losses, rather than a pure tax increase.
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