Pedro Sánchez announced this Wednesday that he would approve new taxes on large fortunes. In his opening speech of the political course, the President of the Government declared that he would tax “those who already have enough money in the bank to live a hundred lives”. The goal? “Limit your disproportionate privileges” in favor of “the middle classes and workers.”
However, the expression used leaves many doubts, especially about who will be affected by this new tax. Who has enough money in the bank to live a hundred lives? According to calculations made by EL ESPAÑOL-Invertia, barely the twenty people who occupy the highest positions in the Forbes List and similar ones that include the ranking of the great fortunes. All those whose assets exceed 1.6 billion of euros.
The figure is not random. The latest UBS wealth report (World Wealth Report) places The average wealth per adult in Spain is 225,675 euros. So, the 1.6 billion is the result of an operation of this amount, an average life expectancy of 80 years and an annual inflation of 2%. In short, this means that the Sánchez tax could affect Amancio Ortega and 19 other people.
Knowing the possible candidates subject to Sánchez’s new tax, it remains to be seen What will this tax consist of?And the Prime Minister was tight-lipped about the details of a new tax figure that comes shortly after the harmonisation of the wealth tax via a temporary tax on large fortunes.
The new tax will, in any case, be the fourth major tax of the It was Sanchez.after the one mentioned on large fortunes and the two approved for tax the profits of banking and energy companies.
Not a thousand
Beyond the literalness of the expression, the truth is that the number of millionaires in Spain whose wealth falls within the highest ranges of the usual measures is not very high either. In 2022, the Tax Agency recorded 852 people with assets of more than 30 million eurosa new historical record after a 2.5% increase compared to the previous year.
However, Only 27.6% (235 people) paid wealth taxthe lowest figure in the historical series. In previous years, this proportion was around 35%.
The decrease in revenue and the number of taxpayers is due, to a large extent, to the tax credits implemented by some autonomous governments of the PP, especially in Madrid.
To counteract these cuts, the central government introduced the solidarity tax on large fortunesspecially designed to avoid loss of income caused by such bonuses.
There are currently two parallel wealth taxes. On the one hand, the traditional wealth tax, at state level but transferred to the Autonomous Communities. This affects those with assets of more than 700,000 euros.with an exemption of up to 300,000 euros in the habitual residence.
The second, the new solidarity tax, has a higher threshold, taxing those who own more than 3.7 million euros in net worthwith a full deduction if you reside in a community where the source tax is applied.
With the available data, it is difficult to know how many people are above the threshold of 3.7 million euros – which could be Sánchez’s scale to consider that a person can live 100 lives – since it is in the middle of the range between 1.5 and 6. million. From this stretch, they were counted two years ago 74,541 people. And, out of the 6 million, 10,099 declarants.
Data from the Tax Agency reveal that in 2022, 230,365 taxpayers were required to declare their assets. However, Only 80.4% of them paid wealth taxor approximately 185,000 people. The remainder, or more than 45,000 taxpayers, benefited from regional exemptions, which represents the lowest proportion of taxpayers in the historical series.
The collection of wealth tax has also been affected. While in 2021 1.352 million euros were collected, in 2022 this figure decreased by more than 100 million, a decrease directly linked to the tax credits implemented in communities such as Madrid and Andalusia.
In 2022, Andalusia joined Madrid in applying a 100% wealth tax bonus. This allowed the 23,486 taxpayers from Madrid and the 12,707 from Andalusia to avoid paying tax.which significantly reduced the proportion of taxpayers who paid tax.
Despite these bonuses, The new solidarity tax managed to collect 623 million euros in its first yearMadrid being the main source of income due to the high concentration of large fortunes in the capital.
Faced with this situation, communities such as Madrid and Andalusia have reconsidered their position and They decided in 2023 to recover the initial tax to retain the income that would otherwise go to the State thanks to the new solidarity tax.
Distribution
According to data from the Tax Agency, the average assets declared in Spain in 2022 exceeded 3.7 million eurosafter increasing by 2.3% compared to the previous year.
Regional differences in wealth distribution are notable. In Aragon, for example, the average reported wealth was €1.7 million, while in In Madrid it exceeded 11 millionthe highest figure of all communities. In Galicia, the declarants recorded an average wealth of 6.8 million, and in Andalusia, 3.8 million.
In total, Spanish taxpayers declared assets worth 864,939 million euros in 2022, representing a growth of 2% compared to the previous year. The Most of this wealth came from movable capitalwhich represented 75% of total assets. This category includes dividends and capital gains from companies.
Real estate accounted for 19% of the totalwhile insurance, income and economic activities accounted for 2% and 1.4% respectively. In addition, 1,515 people reported owning cryptocurrencies for a total value of 1,800 million euros.
