Galicia follows in the footsteps of Madrid and will recover the Wealth Tax — idealista/news

2023-11-21 06:00:06

Galicia follows in the footsteps of Madrid and is also moving after the constitutional endorsement of the tax on large fortunes.

At the end of last week, the Minister of Finance of the Xunta de Galicia, Miguel Corgos, confirmed that The PP is going to temporarily recover the Wealth Tax, currently subsidized by 50% in the regionafter the Constitutional Court endorsed at the beginning of the month the legality of the tax on large fortunes that the central government approved at the end of last year and overturned the appeal of the Government of the Community of Madrid.

The ruling of the Constitutional Court, supported by the Thursdays proposed and endorsed by the PSOE, stated that this tax that must be paid by assets of more than 3 million euros does not violate the financial autonomy of the CCAA or the principles of legal security and non-confiscatoriality. , as stated in the sentencing proposal of the progressive magistrate María Luisa Balaguer.

Following this ruling, the Popular Parliamentary Group in the Madrid Assembly registered, through the single reading procedure, which speeds up parliamentary deadlines, a bill to recover the Wealth Tax during the period of validity of the Temporary Solidarity Tax of Great Fortunes, with the aim that the proceeds remain in the Madrid coffers.

Following that same premise, the PP has presented this November 20th a amendment to the accompanying measures for next year’s budgets to reactivate the 50% discount on the Wealth Tax, which means that taxpayers must pay the tax in full as of January 1, 2024. As in Madrid, the objective is for the collection to remain in the region and to be used to finance public services.

The measure is temporary and is subject to the time the tax on large fortunes is in force. Andalusia is another of the regions that could reactivate the Wealth Tax, in their case with 100% bonuses, although the Board affirms that they are still evaluating different alternatives, waiting for the Constitutional Court to officially rule on its recourse to the tax on large fortunes, along with that of Galicia. The ruling could be known this November 21 and the same doctrine will apply as in the case of Madrid; That is, it will endorse the tax considering that it does not violate regional powers, among other arguments.

A collection of 623 million

The data published by the Treasury put the collection from the tax on large fortunes in Spain as a whole at 623 million euros in its first settlement in the month of July.

According to the treasury, a total of 12,010 large estates, which represent 0.1% of taxpayers in Spain, have paid this tax, complementary to the Heritage tax, with an average fee of 52,000 euros. The majority correspond to large assets in Madrid (10,302 taxpayers), who have contributed 555 million euros.

They are followed by high net worth taxpayers Andalusia (865 filers), who have paid 29.7 million; and the great assets of Galicia (91), with a fee to pay of 9.8 million. These three communities account for more than 95% of the taxpayers and the collection, so the State will see its collection greatly reduced without the contribution of these three Autonomous Communities.

Behind them stands Catalonia, with 322 filers and 2 million euros in collection; Cantabria (9 declarants and 400,000 euros); Valencian Community (17 filers and 200,000 euros collected), and Asturias, with 10 filers and a fee to pay of 100,000 euros. Non-residents and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla have contributed 26.2 million euros after 342 large estates declared this tax.

An unnecessary and unconstitutional tax, according to experts

He Institute of Economic Studies (IEE) presented a report at the beginning of the year together with several professors of Tax Law and Public Finance in which the reasons for considering that the tax appears to be unconstitutional are outlined. For example, it has begun to be applied retroactively, it gives different treatment to national and foreign assets, and because it limits regional powers in tax matters. Furthermore, they fear that this tax will be extended over time, hindering collection and new investments by large estates. “Relocation is assured,” according to the CEOE think tank.

In that line, the Spanish Association of Tax Advisors (AEDAF) He has also criticized the way in which the Government carried out this fiscal change. Specifically, he has emphasized his “reprehensible” parliamentary proceduresince it was included as an amendment in the bill to introduce new temporary taxes on energy companies and banks, and its intended harmonizing effect with the Wealth Tax has been blurred in a certainly significant way, despite being “a reaction of the State to a lawful decision of the autonomous communities, such as subsidizing the Wealth Tax”.

Furthermore, he has insisted that the approval of measures with such “poor technical quality” It contributes to the multiplication of litigation, in addition to the pressure on the taxpayer, the advisors and the judicial system. They have also described it as a “abuse” and a “possible fraud of parliamentary law that generates legal uncertainty”, which “makes us turn on all the alarms and all the alerts because there are many violations.”