Tax revenues to November fall 12.7% due to low GDP

The central government’s tax revenues – excluding tax refunds – reached S/12,328 million in November. Although this figure exceeds by S/113 million what was recorded in the same month of 2022, it still represents a drop of 2.6% in real terms, according to information from Sunat.

In this way, there have been nine consecutive months in which tax collection registers negative rates.

The low resources collected in November are due to the lower level of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in October, since most of the economic operations of the month generate tax obligations that are declared and paid during November, the entity explained.

However, the fall was moderate in the penultimate month of the year thanks to the extraordinary payments obtained by Sunat and because business operations managed to increase November income by S/324 million.

Fewer resources

Thus, between January and November, the tax collection It amounts to S/135,693 million, which means a contraction of 12.7% and represents S/10,098 million less than what was raised in the similar period of 2022.

Roberto Polo, professor of Tax Law at the Universidad del Pacífico, explains that These lower incomes are a reflection of how the national economy is doing. and that a clear recovery of GDP is not yet evident.

“The collection is a reflection of the economic situation that the country is going through and the recession in which we are immersed. Income has fallen and it is because naturally demand has also decreased in our country,” says the teacher.

And in fact, a sign of the deterioration of the economy are the income for the concept of General Sales Tax (VAT), which as of November reached S/76,588 million, falling by 11.5% compared to 2022. This indicator is a sign of how consumption is going, since it is a tribute that Peruvians pay when acquiring a good or service.

Meanwhile, the Income Tax (IR) has been accumulating S/58,362 million so far this year, representing a decline of 16.3%, a clear reflection that business dynamism has cooled, since this tax payment It is generated based on the monthly sales income that company-type taxpayers have.

Although in November the drop in collection has been the most moderate than in previous months, this could be explained by the payment of the CTS that occurred in that month, which made it possible for people to have these resources and spend them. In this sense, he estimates that The same could be observed in December with the payment of the bonus, which could reactivate consumption and company sales.

“In November the CTS is paid and many people wait for this payment to release it and make some type of purchase and surely in December we could see some type of effect with the bonus and the Christmas campaign could help consumption activate a little more but It would be seasonal. The VAT and the payment account very precisely measure how the economy is doing,” Polo highlights to La República.

Tax refund grew 1.8%

Between January and November, S/22,164 million taxes were returned, which represents an increase of 1.8% compared to the same period in 2022.

Until October, the economic activity with the highest tax refund was the mining and hydrocarbons with S/6,069 million, which represents an increase of 0.6% compared to the same period last year, according to official information from Sunat.

The benefited sectors are the sectors of commerce (S/5,123 million), manufacturing (S/3,728 million), other services (S/2,918 million) and agriculture (S/1,036 million).

Figures

• The Selective Consumption Tax fell 2.1% between January and November.
• S/1,727 million was returned from taxes in November of this year.