Tax revenue: Spain up 10.4 per cent compared with 2025, Italia up 2.1 per cent (though measures to curb rising energy costs are having an impact)

In the first half of 2026, Spain – among the countries covered by the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s Bulletin on International Tax Revenue – recorded the sharpest rise in tax revenue compared with the same period last year, with growth of 10.4 per cent. The other European countries included in the study – which is based on data published monthly on the websites of the relevant authorities – also performed well. Spain is followed by the United Kingdom, which recorded an 8.4 per cent increase in revenue. In third place, significantly behind the top two, is France (+3.2 per cent), followed by Italia (+2.1 per cent), Portugal (+1.9 per cent) and Ireland (+1.2 per cent). Bringing up the rear is Germany, which recorded an increase of 0.8 per cent. The report also reveals a generalised growth in VAT revenue across all the countries analysed.

Italia therefore ranks fourth in the table. According to the report, the gap between its results and those of Madrid, London and Paris is so marked, primarily due to the measures adopted by the government to mitigate the effects of high energy prices. Among indirect taxes, whilst revenue from VAT (+3.7 per cent), registration tax (+1.8 per cent) and stamp duty (+5.2 per cent) has risen, revenue from excise duty on electricity (-14.9 per cent) and excise duty on mineral oils (-9.5 per cent) has fallen. This trend – as stated in the study – is attributable to the ‘regulatory measures adopted to counter the rise in energy costs’.

As for direct taxes, however, both personal income tax (IRPEF) revenue (+2.1 per cent) and corporation tax (IRES) revenue (+4.1 per cent) have increased. The overall year-on-year growth of 2.1% recorded in Italia is, in fact, the result of the combined trend in direct taxes (+1.4%) and indirect taxes (+3.0%).

In Spain, the improvement in year-on-year growth rates compared with 2025 is driven by double-digit growth in direct tax revenue (+14.8 per cent). Indirect tax revenue is also rising, albeit at a more modest rate (+5.8 per cent). The 80.2 per cent increase in corporation tax revenue is partly offset by the sharp fall in electricity tax (-30 per cent). VAT performance was positive (+8.4 per cent). In the United Kingdom, too, direct taxes are driving growth, recording a rise of 12.8 per cent, compared with a 2.9 per cent increase in revenue from indirect taxes. Here, too, revenue from value added tax rose (+3.9 per cent).

In France, among direct taxes, both income tax revenue (+2.6 per cent) and corporation tax revenue (+0.2 per cent) have increased. According to the report, the positive performance of French tax revenues is partly attributable to the relief measures contained in the latest tax reforms, and particularly in the 2025 and 2026 Budget Laws, which are ‘geared towards redistribution and taxation of large companies and wealth’.