Status: 09/23/2022 1:02 p.m
Spain is also suffering from high inflation. The government wants to enact a tax on the wealthy to relieve the burden on citizens – it should affect “one percent of the population”, according to Finance Minister Montero. The amount of the tax is still unclear.
Spain’s left-wing government wants to cushion the burden of high inflation on broad sections of the population with a time-limited tax on the wealthy. “When we talk about the rich, then about millionaires,” Finance Minister María Jesús Montero told La Sexta TV. “It’s about protecting the ordinary incomes of 99 percent of the country’s citizens.” “Only one percent of the population” is affected.
The government initially left open the exact assets from which the new tax planned for next year will be levied and how long it will apply, how high the tax rate will be and what income is expected.
Inflation slightly above EU average
Inflation in Spain was 10.5 percent in August, slightly above the EU average of 10.1 percent. The reason for this is the sharp rise in energy and food prices there, mainly as a result of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The tax debate had intensified because, after Madrid, Andalusia also wants to forgo the levying of a wealth tax.
The left-wing coalition government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez accuses the two conservative-governed autonomous communities of tax dumping in order to attract companies from other parts of the country.
The government had previously announced temporary special taxes for banks and energy companies, but the companies concerned want to defend themselves against them in court. The additional revenue is intended to help finance relief packages for citizens. There is already free public transport, cheaper petrol, tax cuts on electricity and gas and a special payment for student scholarship holders.