Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
TABLE 7.4.
The Structure of ACs' Revenues, 1986-2002
1986
1991
1996
2001
2002
Revenues transferred by the Central
Government
15
80.9
78.4
72.28
70.02
47.18
Ceded taxes*
16
11.40
14.13
10.65
19.80
48.81
Income tax
-
-
-
7.19
16.25
Participation VAT
14.48
Special taxes
17
7.70
Others
12.60
10.39
Regional share of income tax (15%)
-
-
8.81
5.84
Regional own taxes
0.66
1.08
1.30
1.05
0.92
Other fees and small taxes
6.01
4.5
5.7
2.5
2.2
* The taxes originally ceded to ACs in the common system are those with the least revenue
generating capacity, including, for instance, inheritance and donation taxes, wealth taxes, and
gambling taxes.
Source
: Bosch and Dur an
2005
;Duran
2007
.
Retrospectively, these pacts can also be seen as a temporary commitment
by the two parties not to use issues concerning the institutional design of the
country as opposition tools. The major effects of this agreement were two-
fold. On the one hand, they meant a great step forward in the overall levels
of decentralization. The reform of the
Estatutos de Autonomıa
allowed ACs
with slower access to autonomy (art. 143CE) to potentially receive most of the
transfers enjoyed by those that achieved autonomy earlier and faster (e.g., the
Basque Country, Catalonia, Galicia, and Andalusia). By 1994, the process was
almost concluded except for the transfer of power over health and education
policy. Somewhat paradoxically, the center-rooted parties provided, in the
early 1990s, an average increase in levels of decentralization. But implicit in
this expansion was the pursuit of horizontal equalization of power, which is to
say, a potential decline in the levels of political asymmetry.
Throughout this period, the levels of regional fiscal autonomy are kept to
a minimum. As decentralization unfolds, regions see their capacity to spend
increased, but not their capacity to collect their own revenues.
Table 7.4
sum-
marizes the main revenue sources for ACs over time. Clearly, until the mid
1990s, regions have no say or direct access to the revenues raised through
the main tax instruments, including the VAT and income tax. Their ability to
perform policy depends largely on the transfers they receive from the central
government.
15
These include: funds to pay for services provided by the AC on behalf of the government as
well as indirect solidarity mechanisms (Bosch and Dur an 2005).
16
The taxes originally ceded to the ACs in the common system are those with the least revenue
generating capacity, including, for instance, inheritance and donation taxes, wealth taxes,
gambling taxes.
17
These include taxes on the production of carbohydrates, alcohol, and tabacco.
