Budget: Τax revenues in July over the target by 4.2 billion euros

Budget tax revenues in July were up by 4.2 billion or 16.3% compared to the target, according to the official final data released by the Ministry of Finance.

It is worth noting that this overperformance is due to: the extension of the deadline for the payment of traffic fees until the end of February 2022, the better performance of the previous year’s taxes collected in installments until the end of February 2022, the better performance in the collection of the taxes for this year, as well as the collection of the first three installments of ENFIA property tax during the months of May, June and July, while it was predicted that they would be collected in the months of September, October and November respectively.

At the same time, revenue from the Energy Product Tax is down by €196 million, a sign of falling consumption as citizens appear to have cut back on fuel.

Primary deficit

According to the state budget execution data, on a modified cash basis, for the period January – July 2022, there is a deficit in the state budget balance amounting to 4,585 million euros against a target for a deficit of 9,180 million euros that has been included for the corresponding period of 2022 in the introductory report of the 2022 Budget and a deficit of 12,515 million euros in the corresponding period of 2021. The primary result was a deficit of 1,161 million euros, against a target of a primary deficit of 5,808 million euros and a primary deficit of 9,063 million euros for the same period in 2021.

The amount of state budget net revenues amounted to 33,703 million euros, showing an increase of 4,803 million euros or 16.6% compared to the estimate for the corresponding period included in the introductory report of the 2022 Budget, despite the reduced revenues of the Public Investment Program. The increased tax revenue of the seven months was further strengthened during the month of July: (a) by the collection of €644 million from ANFA’s, which was not foreseen in the 2022 Budget and (b) by the €636 million exceeding forecasts for payment for the refundable deposit.