The tax reduction proposed by the Government of the Generalitat has been generally well valued by the parliamentary groups that should support it and by employers and business organizations. The unions, however, ask that the loss of income with the measure be compensated with an increase in the tax pressure on high incomes.
The proposal of the Department of Economy and Finance, directed by Natàlia Mas, is the reduction of one point (from 10.5 to 9.5%) in taxation in the first tranche of personal income tax, as La Vanguardia announced today. This change would benefit 2.6 million taxpayers. The savings is around 125 euros per person.
The Minister of Economy declared yesterday that the upward correction of the maximum deficit allowed to the communities and the “improvement in the financing of the Generalitat” through the agreements for the investiture “we believe that it has to revert to the citizens, it has to be a tangible issue, especially for those most affected by the increase in the cost of living.”
Although the budgetary impact of the measure has not been revealed, some sources estimate that it could exceed 100 million euros. The beneficiaries are those who have a tax base of 33,000 euros or less, which in terms of gross salary is about 35,000 euros or less. The president of the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona, ??Josep Santacreu, said that given the favorable context of increased tax revenue due to the strength of the labor market, the proposal “does not represent a significant decrease in collection nor does it call into question budgetary stability.” of the Generalitat.”
From the PSC, its spokesperson, Elia Tortolero, assured that “the music sounds good to us” but that it is necessary “to be able to study it when we know the proposal in detail and the parliamentary group will do so.” The economic spokesman for the Comuns, Joan Carles Gallego, declared that they “don’t like the measure” but that they are open to talking to the Government about other compensatory proposals.
Junts celebrates that the Executive of Pere Aragonès now adopts one of the proposals that they put on the table a year ago in the negotiation of the budgets. “We welcome ERC to the tax reduction. Last year the Government flatly refused,” explained the vice president and spokesperson of the party, Josep Rius.
The Foment employers’ association valued the measure positively in the words of its president, Josep Sánchez Llibre. “Now Catalonia is in the Spanish average,” he said. And he added that “we have a lot of fiscal pressure and we need competitive taxation.” He insisted that “we still have the estate tax, which is confiscatory, because you are taxed twice.”
Along similar lines, the president of Pimec, Antoni Cañete, declared that “reducing the tax pressure on salaries is a positive measure for the labor market.” In the opinion of the president of the SME employers’ association, the tax reduction “can lead to the indirect creation of jobs: workers have more income for the same effort, which encourages consumption and at this time is especially relevant in the face of inflationary tension.” Cañete added that “this measure should not be the only one in reducing taxes, since business taxation in Catalonia is less competitive than that of other regions, a fact that hinders business and country competitiveness.” He also cited the need to abolish the estate tax and subsidize the inheritance tax.
On the other hand, Nuria Gilgado, from UGT Catalunya, criticized the measure because it represents a loss of revenue. In her opinion, the possible reduction must be accompanied by an increase in tax pressure in the high band. It is the same opinion defended by Ricard Bellera, of CC.OO. Catalonia. They also do not like the elimination of brackets because the progressivity of the tax is reduced.
