The first vice-president, María Jesús Montero, will write the remaining minutes of the meeting – today at 5 p.m. – of the Finance Commission, to reach a minimum agreement that will allow the approval of the bases of the tax reform, which the European Commission requires as an important step for the sending of 11 billion from the “Next Generation”: 7.6 billion in direct transfers from the fifth tranche, 4 billion from the sixth.
Spain is already late. The government should have approved the tax package during the first half of the year; However, Moncloa – which tried to consider the norm respected – did not react until sending the structural budget plan, in which it commits to promoting a text capable of contributing three tenths of GDP, i.e. some 4.5 billion euros. This is why the PSOE has chosen a law currently being drafted to include – through a series of amendments – its labor reform. However, this could create an additional problem. If the Treasury does not – finally – obtain the support of the parliamentary groups, the basic text – which responds to the European transposition on the minimum tax of 15% for multinationals – could decline. If necessary, Moncloa would not only risk receiving Community funding, but would also be exposed to sanctions from the European Commission.
So far, Montero has already been forced to postpone the vote on tax reform twice. At least, the text which ultimately emerged from the negotiations that the PSOE kept open with – at least – four parties. The head of the Treasury had to give up a lot of things to get closer to an agreement that would allow her to move forward with tax reform. To begin with, the government was forced to abandon the permanence of the tax on energy companies, although it announced this during the press conference following the Council of Ministers in which it approved the sending the structural tax plan to Brussels.
He also had to “soften” more than necessary the tax project on the bank, which is included in the project that he will defend this afternoon, imposed by the PNV and Junts. Behind this is the pressure that BBVA and CaixaBank have exerted on Basque nationalists and Catalan separatists with the aim of modifying the text.
On the other hand, leftists are demanding explanations for the socialist change of course. Sumar managed to obtain from the PSOE several tax measures that Montero had refused to accept from the start. This is where we find the removal of tax exemptions for SOCIMI and private health insurance, which the PNV and Junts in turn reject. The tax agreement signed with Yolanda Díaz’s team, however, includes other tax measures in a very vague manner. It does not establish criteria for the bank tax and does not detail the proposed tax burden for luxury goods, such as yachts, jets or luxury cars. Other measures are more precise, such as the “two point” increase in the maximum personal tax rate on capital income for returns above 300,000 euros. A proposal that has a better chance of having the support of the rest of the groups in the investiture bloc.
The PSOE’s approach also includes the commitment to promote the modification of the VAT Directive in the EU, with the aim of levying this tax on tourist accommodation rental platforms, such as Airbnb, in areas where the abundance of these accommodations make access difficult. housing or in saturated areas. This is the so-called ViDA package (VAT in the digital age), which the government considers “a priority”. Also the technical reform of the Corporate Tax, which corrects the nullity that the Constitutional Court pronounced regarding the modification undertaken by the former minister Cristóbal Montoro, and the modification of the VAT Directive, with the aim of levying this tax on housing rental platforms.
In addition, the future of the amendments that make up the tax reform is linked to the possibilities of the Government to promote the Budgets. Last Friday, Economy Minister Carlos Body revealed to British investors that reaching an agreement on the tax package would “open the door” to agreement on budgetary issues. “We are now focusing very intensively on the negotiations to get it as soon as possible, as soon as possible. And we are sparing no effort on the part of the government to achieve this agreement,” he said.
