PM Pedro Sánchez has unveiled emergency taxes which will be levied on energy and oil companies and banks to help the country face up to the cost of living crisis.
This was part of a ‘battery of measures’ included in his state of the nation address to Parliament on Tuesday designed to ‘protect the middle and working classes’ from high inflation.
The temporary taxes on national and multi-national companies will be in force for two years and will be levied for 2022 and 2023.
Sr Sánchez estimated that they will bring in a total of €7 billion for the country in additional revenue.
He stated that the ‘exceptional’ tax on electricity, gas and oil companies will affect the ‘extraordinary profits’ they have made, with the state set to receive €2 billion a year for the public purse.
Banks will provide an additional €1.5 billion a year through the levy, he added.
The announcement was greeted with joy by Sr Sánchez’s junior partners in government, Unidas Podemos, who have been asking for similar measures for some time.
While they celebrated the ‘progressive’ move, the shares of the companies lost value on the stock market and business leaders lamented that the measure had not been discussed beforehand with their representatives.
Full report in Friday’s Costa Blanca News
