THE 465 million euros announced by the president of the government for “direct aid” to reconstitute the 120,000 vehicles destroyed by DANA on October 29 in Valencia will represent an expense lower than the VAT that the Ministry of Finance intends to pay for its acquisition. The measure is very similar to one included by the president Carlos Mazon in your Recovery plan for the area affected by DANAalthough it is shorter.
And above all, it will cost the state coffers nothing. In fact, simple accounts indicate that the Tax Agency You will even earn a little more than what you pay.
VAT on the sale price of each car is 21%which is the levy of this tax for the automobile sector. The average cost of a vehicle in Spain, in September 2024, was 24,203 euroswith tax already included. In other words, the VAT revenue from each vehicle, at this average price, will be 4,200.52 euros.
The estimate of the number of passenger cars, vans and other types of non-heavy vehicles destroyed or seriously damaged by DANA is 120,000 units. This is what the Generalitat Valenciana is calculating today, and this is what Sánchez confirmed in his speech to Congress. In this way, the result of multiplying spare cars by their VAT is 504.06 million euros.
Taking the current average price as the actual purchase price for this immense number of vehicles, The balance “in favor” of the Treasury would be a little over 39 million euros.
Warnings
But several caveats are in order. For example, the measure is applicable to all types of cars, even those of people whose conditions of reduced mobility entitle them to a VAT reduced by 4%. Although it is also true that these cars are more expensive, due to the need to transform them.
Likewise, direct aid also includes used vehicles. But this only increases the number of people concerned who will be able to benefit from this “initial” package, as the president described it in his speech. Because, according to industrial sources, it is possible that the 465 million will not be enough.
In fact, as indicated above, this direct aid plan is inspired by one of the 136 measures proposed by Mazón a few days after DANA. This document proposed a budget of 864 million to replace “80,000 cars, vans and other vehicles” “affected” by DANA which were estimated a week after the tragedy.
This is why Feijóo welcomed these measures, ensuring his favorable vote, but criticized them for their lack of results. The initiative which will be included in the government decree of this Thursday has less budget for more cars. And direct aid will be graduated “up to a maximum of 10,000 euros”.
The accounts of the Generalitat – which were not detailed in their Valencia map whether this aid is progressive according to the damage, according to the price of the vehicle, or according to the income of the affected person – they gave, in a simple sharing, to 10,800 linear euros for each of the cars concerned.
Feijóo justifies himself
In his response to the president, Feijóo reiterated the PP’s support for “all the initiatives that the government brings with reconstruction measures.” But he asserted that “they are sufficient” because “they are not”. Indeed, in one month and three decrees The Council of Ministers approved aid amounting to 16.6 billionwhen the “initial” plan of Mazón has already claimed 31.402 million.
Furthermore, the leader of the PP almost implored that the government does not “punish” with “bureaucratic hell” to the people concerned. And he recalled that direct aid for replacing the Valencian automobile fleet was a proposal from the Generalitat: “We are asking for these thousands of euros for the 120,000 cars”he remarked.
Pedro Sánchez had delayed almost a month to go to Congress report on the management of its government in prevention and reaction to the DANA of October 29.
In just 40 minutes of speech, he only had time to announce the new decree which will be approved by the extraordinary Council of Ministers this Thursday with a package that can contain up to 60 aidsthe most striking of which is direct aid for the purchase of cars, and taking up the arguments of Therese Riberaa week ago.
The grant should not be returnedthat is to say, he is completely lost; And can join to the compensation that the Insurance Compensation Consortium, also dependent on the State, is already starting to pay. The vehicles purchased do not necessarily have to be new, as already explained, and will be included retroactively all those that have been acquired since October 29 to replace another accident.
The same day that the European Parliament gave its approval to the college of commissioners, with the vote against the Spanish PPFeijóo took the opportunity to explain this position by criticizing the “inaction” for six years of the current vice-president and minister of ecological transition. “They have filled their mouths with the talk of climate change and at the same time They didn’t lift a finger to avoid the consequences” he said.
