Hard blow for small businesses. The independent organization UPTA, attached to the UGT, estimates that by the end of this year more than 5,000 small businesses will have disappeared, the equivalent of a on average 14 per day and 417 per month. This situation, UPTA warns, will “more dramatically” affect cities with populations of less than 50,000, where the loss of businesses can be double that of large cities.
UPTA attributed this mass closure of small businesses to “unfair” competition generated by “aggressive” commercial promotions such as days without VAT and the stock liquidationswho favor department stores, chains and platforms online“leaving small businesses without room for action,” says the independent organization in a note.
“At UPTA, we have already denounced on numerous occasions that practices such as ‘VAT-free days’ could be considered fraudulent from a tax point of view or as misleading advertising practices,” says UPTA.
The organization also emphasizes that, despite the general rebound in consumption due to Black Friday and the Christmas campaign, consumers continue to prefer to make their purchases in department stores or on platforms onlinesince these “can offer much more attractive discounts than a small company with tighter margins”.
For UPTA, one of the main problems is the lack of regulation in online commerce at the European level, since foreign companies are allowed to sell products in Spain without applying taxes or submitting to the same regulations as national companies.
This organization of independent workers proposes uniform regulations that regulate transnational sales and the corresponding taxes or the imposition of specific rates on companies that sell in Spain through online platforms to guarantee a fair level of competition.
In this sense, UPTA calls for “urgent” legislative action to regulate these practices, protecting small businesses, especially in rural areas and small towns.
The organization denounces that second-hand product sales platforms like Wallapop or Vinted operate “without any form of taxation”.
“Even though these initiatives may make sense from an environmental and sustainable point of view, the lack of tax control encourages an underground economy. Many of these transactions between individuals are intended for the resale of the product, which contributes to tax evasion and the deterioration of the competitiveness of local commerce,” argues UPTA.
“We are facing a real commercial jungle, in which only the strongest survive and small businesses have no opportunity to compete. “If a remedy is not provided legislatively, with strict regulations that regulate online sales and protect local businesses, we will end the commercial life of small towns,” he warned. . Eduardo Abadpresident of UPTA.
