The extraordinary levies on the financial sector and the energy sector, introduced by Ley 38/2022, of 27 December, on energy saving measures, have dominated the tax agenda over the past two financial years. By mid-2025, the question for tax directors at affected entities is whether these levies will remain in force in 2026 and, if so, with what modifications.
Origin and design of the temporary levies under Ley 38/2022
Ley 38/2022 introduced two non-tax public patrimonial charges — technically distinct from a tax in the strict sense, though economically equivalent — on two sectors deemed to have benefited disproportionately from the high-inflation, high-interest-rate environment of 2022 and 2023.
Temporary levy on credit institutions and financial credit establishments
Taxpayers: credit institutions and financial credit establishments with interest and commission income in Spain of €800 million or more in 2019 (the reference year). The threshold excludes most medium-sized entities and all small ones.
Tax base: the sum of the net interest margin and commission income from the preceding financial year (2022 for the first year, 2023 for the second), as reported in the consolidated financial statements published under applicable accounting standards (IFRS for listed groups).
Rate: 4.8% of the tax base. For the 2023 and 2024 financial years, the average levy for the major institutions (Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank, Sabadell, Bankinter) ranged between €300 million and €500 million per institution per year.
Non-deductibility: Ley 38/2022 expressly provides that the levy amount is not deductible for Corporate Income Tax purposes, which amplifies its effective impact (in practice the net cost is equivalent to being taxed as if the levy itself were taxable income).
Temporary levy on the energy sector
Taxpayers: legal entities and organisations with their tax domicile in Spain whose income from energy sector activities represents at least 75% of total revenues, and whose net energy turnover in Spain was €1 billion or more in 2019.
Tax base: the net energy turnover in Spain derived from energy activities in the preceding financial year.
Rate: 1.2% of the tax base.
Non-deductibility: as with the banking levy, the amount is not deductible for Corporate Income Tax purposes.
Status in 2025: levy extended for a third year
Ley 7/2024, of 20 December (which also transposes Pillar Two into Spanish law), includes the extension of both levies for the 2025 financial year. Affected entities must therefore settle the levy corresponding to 2025 in September 2026, under the same bases and rates as in previous years.
This extension for 2025 occurs without material changes to the design of the levies, although an Additional Provision of Ley 7/2024 requires the Ministry of Finance to produce an impact assessment report before the first quarter of 2026, with a view to deciding whether the levies should be maintained, amended or converted into permanent charges.
Conversion to a permanent Corporate Income Tax surcharge: the proposal for 2026
The political and economic debate in 2025 centres on whether the temporary levies should be made permanent. The Government has expressed its preference for integrating them as special Corporate Income Tax surcharges, which would convert them into taxes in the strict legal sense — with all the constitutional guarantees inherent to taxes (the principles of economic capacity, generality, etc.) — and would eliminate the technical controversy over their nature as patrimonial charges.
If conversion takes place for 2026, the proposed design — based on Ministry working papers — would include:
- Financial sector: a Corporate Income Tax surcharge of 5% on the tax liability (cuota líquida) of credit institutions whose gross tax liability exceeds a defined threshold, applied permanently from 2026.
- Energy sector: a Corporate Income Tax surcharge of 1.5% on the tax liability of large energy companies, also on a permanent basis.
- Deductibility: unlike the temporary levies, the IS surcharges would be integrated into corporate taxation and would therefore not require a separate non-deductibility rule.
This conversion would eliminate the non-deductibility anomaly but would transform a measure conceived as temporary into a structural burden on both sectors.
Impact on tax planning for affected entities
For the financial and energy institutions concerned, uncertainty about the definitive 2026 design complicates tax planning and budgeting. Decisions to be taken in the second half of 2025 include:
- Accounting provision for the 2025 levy: the estimated amount of the levy to be settled in September 2026 must be reflected in the 2025 accounts as a charge for the financial year, even though it is not deductible for Corporate Income Tax. The estimate requires knowing the net turnover and interest margin for the year.
- Constitutional challenges: several banking and energy entities have filed appeals before the Constitutional Court questioning the constitutionality of the levies (violation of the principle of economic capacity, non-deductibility as double taxation). The Court has not yet ruled; if it were to uphold the appeals, significant refunds of amounts already settled could follow.
- Corporate structures and consolidated groups: the possibility of affected entities being integrated into tax consolidation groups for Corporate Income Tax purposes does not eliminate the application of the levy at individual entity level, since it is calculated entity by entity based on each entity’s own income.
Sector perspective: impact on competitiveness
Those who argue for eliminating the levies contend that a permanent charge on Spanish financial and energy entities creates a competitive disadvantage relative to European peers not subject to comparable levies, discourages investment in the sector, and may ultimately be passed on to customers through higher credit rates and energy tariffs.
Those who support their continuation point to the extraordinary profits generated by both sectors in 2022 and 2023 — with record banking ROE and elevated energy margins during the gas crisis — and to the need for sectors with significant market power to contribute additionally to public expenditure at times of social tension.
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