The Treasury yesterday closed the door on the battery of tax proposals that Sumar launched on Thursday, among which there is a specific tax on the food chain for excessive business margins and another tax on large inheritances. The minority partner of the coalition Government is working on a document with tweaks to different fiscal figures, but the first vice-president and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, advanced yesterday that the measures that are not provided for in the coalition pact will not have recourse . “The taxation proposals agreed with Sumar are in agreement with the Government”, explained the person responsible for drawing up the public accounts.
The economic spokesman for Sumar, Carlos Martín, had explained to the Finance and Public Service committee of the Congress of Deputies held on Thursday that, as part of the negotiations for the next general budgets of the State, he will propose an ambitious battery of fiscal measures .
Regarding the tax on distribution, Martín referred to an “intelligent tax” that would tax abusive margins from companies in the food production and distribution chain “in order to moderate the still high inflation” of the basket of consumption, he defended. The rate would be applied to the turnover of companies and would be 0.6% if they register in 2024 a margin higher than in 2019. And if the margin in 2024 is higher than in 2023, that is, if it has continued increasing, then the levy rate would double to 1.2%. The tax would start accruing in 2024 and there would be a payment on account in February 2025, while the final settlement would be in July 2025.
The tax on large inheritances that Sumar has thought would consist of an extension of the tax on large fortunes in force which has become permanent until a reform of regional financing arrives. Sumar talks about “fiscal dumping” due to the property tax rebates of some communities. Montero also dismissed it and affirmed that “the taxation of the patrimony should be thought of in the context of the reform of regional financing”.
In addition, Sumar proposed to the same parliamentary committee an approximation of personal income tax between wages and capital (this measure is indeed included in the coalition agreement sealed between the PSOE and Sumar and could be appealed), that the VAT exemption for private university education be removed, a reduction of this same tax for hairdressers and veterinary establishments and a “super-reduced” VAT for diapers and gluten-free products.
Sumar also endorsed the permanent conversion of bank and energy levies, even though Yolanda Díaz stated that the tax incentives announced for energy companies are, in her opinion, “incomprehensible”.
