Spain: the government wants to tax the rich to face the energy crisis

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid on July 30, 2022. AP - Armin Durgut

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1 min

The left-wing government of Pedro Sanchez has announced the establishment of a tax on the rich, a kind of ISF, to finance all the compensatory measures to alleviate the energy crisis.

This Thursday morning, the Minister of the Economy, Maria Jesus Montero, was even explicit in this request.

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With our correspondent in Madrid,

Free public transport, a guarantee of 200 euros in income for those who earn less than 14,000 euros per year, the reduction of VAT on the electricity bill... So many measures announced by the Sanchez government, but measures that cost expensive, very expensive, because at the same time, the price of gasoline at the pump must also be subsidized for truckers and all individuals.

This leaves such a hole in the executive's budget that the latter proposes to finance these measures a kind of tax on the rich, a cumulative tax on large fortunes and on heritage.

So many billions of euros, not yet really quantified which, according to the Socialists, would make it possible to finance the enormous energy crisis and especially to ensure that the most modest families suffer less.

Except that in practice, this effort asked of the richest must go through an agreement with the 17 regions of the country, which have a certain power in the matter.

However, regions as important as Madrid and Andalusia, governed by the right, are totally opposed to it, especially since they want to lower taxes in general and income tax in particular.

Things should settle down in the coming days. 

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• Spain

• Economic crisis

• Energies