Díaz points to deductions and reductions of personal income tax for low incomes

The fiscal package that will include the 2023 Budget project will not only affect the highest incomes. Yolanda Díaz argued this Wednesday that the objective is to raise taxes on those who have the most in order to lower them for the lowest incomes. The second vice president admitted that this purpose is part of the negotiation between UP and PSOE and, although she eluded more specificity, she did point to a surgical intervention in personal income tax to act above on capital income and below on deductions and reductions in the labor income.

In the Government, both in the socialist wing and in the dwelling, they continue to be very critical of the idea of ​​a deflation of the income tax similar to the one that Alberto Feijóo’s PP has been proposing for months, which several popular communities have already addressed and to which this past Tuesday the president of the Valencian Community, the socialist Ximo Puig, signed up. But, after several days emphasizing that what the moment demands is to demand more from those who have the most, they have begun to open the door more clearly to selective reductions for the middle and lower classes.

The Minister of Finance, Maria Jesús Montero, yesterday insisted on showing her opposition to generalized reductions that could lead to an “emptying” of the public coffers (something that, in private, the Government attributes to the actions of Ximo Puig) but in her argument , based on opinions issued by international organizations such as the IMF, the OECD or the ECB, left a loophole for specific downward actions on certain taxes.

The Finance Minister remarked, in fact, that the debate on fiscal policy does not concern only the protection of the welfare state and that it is also a question of “economic efficiency”. “It is about not creating large elites that have a lot, but about creating a resistant society that, in the face of the attacks that the economy is suffering, has the capacity to consume, to protect income; in short, that the economy does not decline due to fear or because of the difficulties of the citizens in the face of what may happen », she argued.

Díaz, whom the socialists reproach for a lack of discretion, later explained in a late-night interview on TVE that what his group has put on the table have been things already known, such as measures so that the income of capital pays more or actions so that the effective corporate tax rate paid by large companies is close to a nominal 15%. He also pointed to VAT reductions on feminine hygiene products and defended a reduction in VAT on basic foods (something that Feijóo also claims).

Regarding reductions in personal income tax, on the other hand, she was more cryptic, although she recalled that United We Can already defended months ago measures that acted on precepts 19.2 and 20 of the tax (reductions and deductions). Even so, she avoided delving into the matter and refused to answer the question of whether she would lower rates in the lower sections of the scale, arguing that she has a personal opinion on this matter.

In Podemos they openly reject that last option. Not in vain, while the second vice president spoke on TVE’s 24 hours, the general secretary of the formation, Ione Belarra, did so on Ser to make her position clear. “Right now we can’t afford to discuss tax cuts,” she said after accusing the Psoe of having brought this matter to the budget negotiation as a result of Ximo Puig’s announcement.