The Treasury is facing a “no” from banks and energy companies in negotiations to adjust their taxes.

Sources in both the business and public sector told the ABC the Treasury Several attempts have been made to attract companies affected by the technical adjustment of taxes in order to fine-tune their application as precisely as possible and prevent more problems than those that have already arisen due to their mere existence, are appealed en masse by those affected, both in the administrative sphere and in the National Court.

Companies required by law to pay separate taxes they identified objective difficulties in calculating both the tax base and the fees payable based on the Treasury Department’s cumbersome definition and requested clarification in this regard, but declined an invitation from the tax authorities to discuss the most appropriate way to apply the encumbrances.

The same thing happened with the preliminary informal contacts that Treasury officials had with representatives of banks and energy companies regarding changing the wording of transition taxes convert them into taxes for all purposes, as specified in the legislative agreement signed between PSOE and Sumar.

Sources interviewed assure ABC that no formal negotiations are planned relatively new parameters for future permanent taxes on banking and energy, which, as already proposed by the government, would ease the current tax burden imposed on banking and energy and would lead to a change in the current tax base so that they would effectively tax potential extraordinary benefits , which they may have, rather than billing them, as is now the case with figures that the government has designed as non-tax property benefits to prevent them from being challenged on double taxation grounds.

Let justice decide

The position of banking and energy is that it is the justice that decides the issue of adaptation or non-compliance with Spanish legislation with the figures approved by the government, so that it is these industries that pay the bills for anti-inflationary measures. To date, banking and energy companies have paid €4.135 million to apply the temporary tax, which the government has decided to extend until 2024. At the same time, they systematically appealed both the tax calculations and the ministerial order regulating its payment.

The government’s original idea was to take advantage of the 2024 General Government Budget proposal to convert the temporary levy on energy companies into a tax and, in the process, lower its eligibility bar by allowing companies to deduct their investments in clean energy generation from the base. . and energy transition. After refuse to process invoicesThere are now plans to introduce a specific rule so that new permanent taxes on banking and energy come into force as early as 2025.

The bank tax imposes a 4.8% rate on banks’ intermediary profits and has already raised about $2 billion. Energy companies have a sales tax of 1.2% for those who issue invoices of more than 1 billion million.