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Date Published: 04/01/2022

ARCHIVED - Murcia collects more taxes than ever, but spends just half of its yearly budget

ARCHIVED ARTICLE -

Tax collection in 2021 rose by 14%, but 100 million euros were left unspent on important projects in the Region

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Murcia collects more taxes than ever, but spends just half of its yearly budget

Between January and November of the year just gone, the Region of Murcia collected 2.857 billion euros in taxes, 13.9% more than it did in 2020. Nonetheless, the regional government spent less than half of its yearly budget, leaving 100 million euros unspent on planned projects to improve daily life for people living in Murcia, raising the question of what is happening to all that leftover tax money.

According to a detailed breakdown of tax earnings in Murcia, personal income tax paid by private citizens from January to November 2021 amounted to 1.551 billion euros, 14.7% more than in the same period in 2020. Non-Resident Income Tax, meanwhile, was up 11%, with just over 11 million euros collected compared to 10 million in 2020.

This increase in tax payments is a positive sign of economic recovery after the lockdown and most restrictive periods of 2020. The higher the activity, the higher the tax revenue. But if this money is not reinvested into the community at the levels the regional government promised it would be at the beginning of 2021, where is it going? And what is the real benefit to Murcian residents and homeowners of paying so much tax?

The Treasury in Murcia has yet to disclose its final expenditure for 2021, but estimates are that the year closed with just 49.5% of the total budget being spent. This is actually higher than in previous years, but still falls pathetically short of what was promised to finance projects such as the cleaning up of the polluted Mar Menor lagoon.

Insufficient funding for important projects

Fernando Miras López, President of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia

With more than a hundred million euros in unspent investments, there is worry that some of the worthy and valuable initiatives that the Region of Murcia has proposed are not getting the full amount of funding they are due and which they need in order to work properly.

For instance, politicians controlling the regional budget have been quick to point to a new wealth redistribution project for the beginning of 2022 that will integrate vulnerable groups into society, helping them to overcome the additional difficulties they face in finding a job.

Specifically, the Regional Ministry of Enterprise and Employment’s “New territorial projects for rebalancing and equity. Vulnerable groups” initiative is aimed at 100 unemployed people who are at risk of social exclusion and another 100 unemployed people with disabilities, who will all receive comprehensive and personalised assistance according to their needs. Each participant will have to complete at least 86 hours of guidance between individual and group actions and workshops, which will necessarily include a diagnostic interview, itinerary design, personalised accompaniment and training actions for the search for employment.

The budget allocated to this laudable project is 3 million euros, a not insignificant sum. But when there are 100 million euros leftover from last year that haven’t been spent and will otherwise remain unused, there is no good reason why the funding for this employment programme can’t be increased, allowing the remaining 92,221 unemployed people in the Region of Murcia to get a chance for some help too.

In its 2022 budget, the central government in Spain has promised more funding than ever before for regional governments, including Murcia, which is a great opportunity for the Region to invest more than ever into making the Region one of the best in the country. With the regional economy once again on the mend, it’s about time that normal people started seeing the fruits of their own hard work and the taxes they pay.

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Image 2: CARM

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