The share of Spaniards who believe life would be better without taxes has tripled during the government of Pedro Sánchez. According to the latest opinion barometer for 2025, published by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IEF), 24% of the population holds this view. This is a historic high over the past thirty years.
This figure becomes even more indicative when broken down by age: 35% of young people aged 18 to 24 are convinced that life would be better without taxes, and among those aged 25 to 39, the share rises to 38%. A cause for concern was the episode involving Shakira, when in May 2026 the National Court (Audiencia Nacional) ruled in her favor in a dispute with the Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria) over her 2011 tax return. The widespread celebration of this ruling on social media, almost as a personal victory, alarmed the agency, especially since the singer had previously admitted to and paid tax violations for 2012, 2013, and 2014.
This episode added to the evidence of a gradual decline in tax awareness among Spaniards, a trend recorded for several years in the annual surveys of the Ministry of Finance through the IEF.
Perception of the tax system among young people
A tax inspector and author of the book «¿Hacienda somos todos?» Francisco de la Torre explains that people are net recipients of state resources until the age of 18 or a little longer. After completing their education, this balance shifts; when a person starts working and receiving a salary, they notice they pay significant taxes but do not receive an equivalent level of state services. «Young people understand that the system is biased against them, and the hardest thing is that they are largely right», notes de la Torre.
The perception of a fiscal gap between generations has intensified in recent years due to measures such as the general indexing of pensions to the consumer price index (IPC), including the highest pensions, and the lack of inflation‑adjusted changes to the personal income tax (IRPF). These policies have led to an unprecedented rise in the tax burden on wages and worsened Spaniards’ overall view of the benefits of paying taxes. According to the latest barometer from the Institute of Fiscal Studies, 10% of citizens say no state service justifies paying taxes, 20% believe none correspond to the amount paid, and a quarter (25%) are convinced taxes do not aid wealth redistribution.
This decline in perception also affects other indicators: about a third of the population now justifies tax fraud—either as an inseparable part of paying taxes or as a survival necessity given the high tax burden.
Paradox of tax policy
Data from the Ministry of Finance barometer highlight an interesting paradox. The peak of social support for the necessity of the State Treasury (Hacienda Pública) to collect taxes for public services occurred in 2019. That survey was the first after Pedro Sánchez became prime minister and set a political course to raise taxes on high‑income individuals and companies to improve welfare‑state financing and services.
Since then, alongside the implementation of this fiscal policy, support for the usefulness of the State Treasury has only slipped, though it remains high at 79%. At the same time, the share of people who think life would be better without taxes has jumped—from 8% in 2019 to 24% in 2025.
