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Spain considers regional tax range rate amid inheritance and wealth policy row
Catalonia accuses conservatives of "attacking" Catalans by lowering taxes to lure businesses
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Government accuses Andalusia of populism for inviting entrepreneurs
Southern Spanish leader tries to attract businesses with new policy scrapping inheritance and wealth taxes
Cities near Barcelona grow poorer as wealthy move to smaller towns, study finds
Mataró, Terrassa, Granollers, and Sabadell lose higher-income residents to neighboring towns
Richest 1% control quarter of wealth, according to Oxfam report
NGO calls for change in wage inequality at press conference in Barcelona
Catalan Government collected nearly 3 billion euros in taxes in 2016
The Catalan Government’s tax take rose by 8.3% in 2016, totalling 2.9 billion euros. More than half of this came from the real estate sector, which contributed 1.6 billion euros to the treasury due to the growth registered in both the execution of new mortgages and in the buying and selling of previously owned houses. The wealth tax also contributed to this 225.45 million euros, an increase compared to 2015, not only because the fee grew but also because there were more declarants in 2016 than in the previous years. The figures, which include the Catalan Tax Agency’s own taxes and those transferred by the Spanish state, include the new taxes applied in 2016 for the first time. In particular, the treasury benefited from the taxes applied to empty houses, which represented 11.49 million euros and the 2.99 million obtained by charging Co2 emissions produced by public aviation.
The Catalan Government raises the tax on second-hand real estate sales to earn an additional €150 million
The Wealth Transfer Tax, which is levied on sales of second-hand housing units and any other used real estate, will be raised from 8% to 10% as from the 1st of August. The Catalan Government expects to earn an additional €50 million in 2013 and €150 million in 2014. The Catalan Finance Minister, Andreu Mas-Colell, argued that the rise in the tax rate is equivalent to the VAT charged on sales of new housing units and that both taxes should be “parallel”. He also added that other Autonomous Communities had previously raised this tax to similar levels.
Catalan nationalists have reached a final agreement and an independence vote will be organised in 2014
The Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) and the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) have reached a definitive agreement ensuring the next Catalan Government parliamentary stability to approve the main laws. The CiU leader Artur Mas will be re-elected President of the Catalan Government with the ERC’s vote in the Catalan Parliament by the end of the week. However, the ERC will not sit in the Cabinet and will only offer support on the agreed issues. The last point blocking the agreement was the CiU’s refusal to set a specific date for a self-determination referendum. Finally, they have agreed on calling for a citizen vote on Catalonia’s independence from Spain in 2014. However, the CiU has managed to include a clause postponing the voting call if both parties explicitly agree to do so.