Catalan Tax Agency strengthened in preparation for independence

The Commission for Economic Affairs in the Catalan Parliament passed a draft law on Wednesday that will strengthen the Catalan Tax Agency and prepare it for eventual independence. The Tributary Code Law will be the basis for the fiscal system that pro-independence supporters could implement in the future and would allow an independent Catalonia to manage its own Treasury. After Wednesday’s vote, the Economic Affairs Commission will now send the proposed law to the chamber for debate and approval. If parliamentary groups do not object to the law being put to a vote, the new regulation will be included on the agenda for the next plenary session.

Governing coalition 'Junts pel Sí' and radical-left CUP have the overall majority needed to pass it. At committee level, the text was approved with the votes from Junts pel Sí and CUP, despite the no votes from Ciutadans (C's), left-wing CSQP, the Socialists (PSC), and the People's Party (PP). The draft law establishes the general principles of the tributary framework and the values that will govern the fiscal policy of Catalonia in three parts. The text does not detail which taxes nor which competencies will be managed by the Catalan fiscal system, and mentions that, in any case, it will always work in accordance with the legal framework, without specifying if that would be set by Spanish laws or those that could be approved after independence.

The law strengthens the new Catalan Tax Agency by modifying the 2007 law that currently regulates it. The project will also allow for the creation of a Fiscal Advice Council for the Catalan government, which will have nine members, coming from the Government, local entities, associations and schools of fiscal advisors, and academia. The group will also include two representatives of social entities specialized in fiscal affairs and a member of the Tax Agency’s anti-fraud team. Finally, the proposed law also foresees the creation of the Research Institute of Public Finance and of Tributary Studies.