Spain collects $1.5B in windfall taxes from banks, energy companies

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) – A new temporary windfall tax on Spanish energy companies and banks has already boosted the state’s coffers by €1.454 billion ($1.55 billion), the country’s treasury minister announced on Tuesday.

Spain’s progressive government plans to raise a total of around €6 billion ($6.4 billion) from the temporary taxes in 2023 and 2024.

The first advances were finalized on Monday, and Treasury Minister Maria Jesus Montero applauded the “good results,” suggesting the country may even raise more money than forecast.

Montero said that the windfall tax is “manageable” for Spain’s corporate giants after they earned “unprecedented” sums of cash in 2022 amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Spain’s banks made €20 billion ($21.3 billion) in profits last year, she said — a more than 25% increase compared to 2021 due to rising interest rates.

Energy companies, on the other hand, made €12 billion ($12.8 billion) in profits in the first three quarters of 2022 — a 43% jump from the year prior.

Even so, some Spanish companies like oil giant Repsol say they will launch a legal challenge on the tax, arguing it violates EU and Spanish law.

Spain has also levied a new “solidarity tax” on Spanish citizens with more than €3 million ($3.2 million) in assets. Although those payments have still not been collected, Montero said around 23,000 of Spain’s richest residents will have to pay.