Tax revenues set to reach all-time lows

This year is set to register a number of all-time lows regarding tax revenues. General government takings from taxes are expected to slide to at least 5-6 billion euros below the targets. There has already been a loss of about 2.5 billion euros in the first five months of the year compared to the same period last year.

After the decision for the reduction of the corporate tax deposit by 1.5 billion euros, the losses to be recorded especially after the third quarter of the year from indirect taxes, the suspension of tax obligations of more than 1.5 billion euros (to be paid as of 2021), and the tax rebates issued as a financial return to hundreds of thousands of taxpayers, the final tax revenues for the year are projected to range around 45 billion euros, against about 50 billion euros in 2019.

If that proves correct, it will be one of the worst performances in the last 20 years.

It will also be the first time in many years that the sum of taxpayers’ declared incomes will drop below the 70-billion-euro level, while the taxable earnings of companies will drop below 10 billion euros, after having regularly exceeded 14 billion euros in previous years despite the financial crisis of the 2010s.