CIS - Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas

• 54.4% of respondents believe that "taxes are necessary for the State to provide public services."
• 79.5% believe that cheating the Treasury is cheating the rest of the citizens.
• 49.4% say that there are major inequalities in Spain in general.
• 47.2% affirm that the State should intervene in economic life, but respecting private initiative.

The CIS has conducted its usual survey on public opinion and tax policy, asking Spaniards about tax payments, their knowledge of what those taxes are used for, and their income tax returns, among other things.

78.9% of citizens believe that taxes are not paid fairly, meaning that those with the most wealth don't pay more, while 19.1% believe they are collected fairly.

43.1% believe Spaniards are "not very aware but responsible" when it comes to paying taxes, 32.8% say they are "fairly aware and responsible," and only 6.3% believe they are "very aware and responsible" when it comes to paying taxes.

When asked about themselves, 58.5% consider themselves “fairly aware and responsible” about paying taxes, and 33.9% consider themselves “very aware and responsible.”

Fraud, struggle and tax pedagogy

90.1% believe there is "a lot or quite a lot" of tax fraud in Spain, and only 8% say there is "little or very little" fraud.

The main effects of tax fraud according to citizens are that it creates injustices, since some have to pay what others fail to pay (35.4%), it reduces the resources to finance public services and social benefits (24.7%), and it discourages those who pay their taxes correctly (19.9%).

53.5% believe the Administration makes "little or very little" effort to combat tax fraud. 43.7% believe it makes "many or quite a few" efforts.

79.5% of Spaniards agree that "cheating the Treasury is cheating the rest of the citizens."

18.6% believe the government does "a lot or quite a lot" to explain where taxes are spent, compared to 79.2% who say it does "little or very little" effort.

Taxes and their destination

54.4% of respondents agree that "taxes are necessary for the State to provide public services," but 30.6% believe that "taxes are something the State forces us to pay without really knowing what in return," and 13.1% believe that taxes "are a means to better redistribute wealth."

Furthermore, Spaniards believe that the government allocates very few resources to housing (84.5%), 80% believe that little is allocated to research in science and technology, and 77.1% say that very few taxes are allocated to healthcare.
On the other hand, 23.6% say too many resources are allocated to defense, 13.8% to unemployment protection, and 13.2% to public works.
48.6% say that governments allocate the necessary funds to transportation and communications, 46.5% to unemployment benefits, and 44.3% to social security and pensions.

On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 means "improve public services, even if taxes are required" and 10 means "pay less taxes, even if public services are reduced," respondents averaged a score of 4.48. 18.1% ranked 0, 30.2% ranked 5, and 6.6% ranked 10.

40.3% believe that society benefits "a lot or quite a lot" from what we pay in taxes and contributions to public administrations, while 58% say that we benefit "little or not at all" as a society from these payments.

Furthermore, 62% believe that the government gives them "less than they pay in taxes and contributions," the highest percentage in five years, along with 2022. 26.5% say "more or less the same as they pay," and 9.2% say "more than they pay."

48.4% of Spaniards say they pay a lot of taxes, 43% say they pay about average taxes, and only 6.9% say they pay little tax.
Compared to Europe, 39.5% say they pay more taxes in Spain, 28.6% think they pay less taxes, and 20.7% think they pay the same.

Regarding the method of tax collection, 63.3% believe it should be collected through direct taxes, such as personal income tax (based on the income or wealth of individuals and companies), and 29% through indirect taxes, such as VAT (which affect everyone equally).

Income tax return

81.6% indicate they are required to file a tax return; of those, 34% owe a fee and 58.2% owe a refund.

23.9% of Spaniards say they have checked the box for social purposes to allocate taxes, 12.6% for social purposes and the church, 10.8% for the church, and 26.7% say they have not checked either box.

76.8% consider it “slightly or not at all likely” that their tax return will be reviewed, while 17.7% do consider it likely.

46.2% say that all or almost all people actually declare their income to the Treasury, 31.1% say that many people are legal when it comes to filing taxes, and 16.7% say that few people report their income truthfully.

Reasons for hiding income

19.6% believe it's because the taxes owed to the Treasury are excessive, 18.9% say people hide part of their income because salaries are too low and they have to look for other ways to get money, and 17% attribute it to the fact that those with the most wealth avoid (or minimize) paying taxes.

VAT

37.1% believe that "all or almost all people" declare all their income, 28.6% believe that quite a few people do so, and 24.9% say that "few people" declare all their VAT.

83% of citizens know that the general VAT rate in Spain is 21%, but 16.5% have responded with other rates or admit they don't know.

Inequalities

49.4% believe that there are "major inequalities in general" in Spain, 42.6% say there are "some inequalities in some aspects," and only 6.6% believe there are "few inequalities."
Regarding people's economic position, on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 means their economic position depends exclusively on "their effort, education, and professional worth" and 10 on "family background, connections, or luck," the average is 5.41. 16.3% place themselves at 0, 17.4% at 5, and 12.8% at 10.

The State and the Economy

47.2% of Spaniards believe that "the State should intervene in economic life, but respect private initiative"; 22.6% believe that "the State should not intervene in economic life, except to correct possible imbalances," while 16.6% believe that "the State should intervene in all economic life." A further 9.8% believe that "the State should not intervene in economic life; it should leave it in the hands of private initiative."

Public services

76.2% admit they discuss the operation of public services with people close to them "very or fairly frequently," while 22.6% say they do so "infrequently or not at all."

Regarding the functioning of some public services, 71.5% of Spaniards agree that the administration of justice functions "slightly or not at all satisfactorily," 61.9% point to the poor functioning of assistance for dependent persons, and 59.8% believe public works (roads, wastewater treatment plants, etc.) are not functioning well.

On the other hand, 51.9% say public transport is working "very or fairly" satisfactorily, as is citizen security (50.6%), and 45.2% praise the way pensions are managed.

Attitudes and behaviors

Spaniards say they are quite happy, giving themselves an average score of 7.8 on a scale of 0 to 10 when asked. Regarding trust in people, with 0 being "you can never be too cautious" and 10 being "you can trust most people," those surveyed gave an average score of 5.41.

Regarding attitudes and behaviors as good citizens, what respondents value most is “being a responsible and honest person” with an average of 9.37, followed by “respecting the opinions of others, even if they are different from one's own” (8.98) and in third place they value “always complying with the laws and regulations” with 8.76.

97.2% find it "hardly or not at all tolerable" to receive a social benefit to which one is not entitled (faking illness to obtain sick leave from work or collecting unemployment benefits when performing paid work), and 95.2% find it intolerant for a large company to evade or avoid paying corporate tax.

These and other data are collected in this study conducted from July 7 to 16 with 4,004 interviews.

Esta información puede ser usada en parte o en su integridad sin necesidad de citar fuentes.

C/ Montalbán, 8
28014 Madrid
Email: comunicacion@cis.es
Tlf.: 91.580.76.25
Fax: 91.531.81.31

Press release