The Minister of Finance points out that she only foresees "adjustments" in taxes
Maintains commitment to update pensions
The Minister of Finance and Government spokesperson, María Jesús Montero, explained that the Executive will not address the structural reform of the tax system until the Covid-19 pandemic is over, but will propose "immediately some adjustments to preserve the welfare state." Montero said that the Government is studying reports on VAT in private education and healthcare, as well as on the review of tax benefits for private pension plans: "But we have not yet made the decision on which elements will be subject to adjustment."
"It is logical and reasonable that we adapt the profound reforms that affect the productive model and the structure, such as the corporate tax, to this moment and therefore, let's wait for this storm to pass," he said. The Government - he said - wants to reform the tax system so that it has "better performance, is more redistributive, more progressive, more fair," and is committed to addressing this reform with the advice of a committee of experts.
As for tax collection, he explained that it had decreased by 7.71% in homogeneous terms until August, but that in that month the drop was 4.21%: "They are not growing, they are falling less. We have to wait for the fractional payment of companies in October."
He also maintained that the Government's commitment is to update pensions according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), while for an increase in the salaries of public servants in those same terms it will be necessary to "talk with the unions, to see what their priorities are." He defended the enabling of the 16 billion fund for recovery that the Executive put in place before repealing the deficit path: "The Government has not said suspend the fiscal rules and go into debt, but what it has done is go into debt itself so that the communities would not have their accounts deteriorated."
He denied that controlling spending was an objective of the Government, which was focused on "solving the pandemic situation, providing resources to the communities, ensuring that Social Security also had resources to be able to subsidize contributions and everything that ERTE entails."
He also stressed that the second quarter saw a "historic fall, but in the third quarter we are seeing how the recovery has gradually taken hold and today it has nothing to do with the scenario" of April.
During the negotiation of the General State Budget (PGE), they will contact all parties to show them "the budget proposal, listen to their contributions and suggestions and see what scope of agreement there may be."
He argued that, in public accounts with 27 billion more and 31 billion in transfers to Social Security and the communities, "the Government is not as concerned as previous ones about who is responsible for the deficit, in terms of who pays the bill, but about what needs to be done," with increases in education, health care and care for the elderly.
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