The opposition's reaction to the announcement of the sixth tax cut so far in the legislature in Andalusia has not been long in coming. If this morning the president of the Board, Juanma Moreno, anticipated that tomorrow the Governing Council will approve a new package of fiscal measures that will make the region the second with the least fiscal pressure in the country, then PSOE-A and IU have shown his total rejection by considering that this type of policy only benefits "the great fortunes" and not the working class.
Specifically, the opposition has opposed the elimination of the Wealth Tax, the 'paralysis' for one year of the collection of the water canon and the deflation of 4.3% of the IRPF, with which, as described by the leader of San Telmo, "360 million euros remain in the pockets of the Andalusians helping them to mitigate the effects of this rise in prices".
They are "powerful discounts and closely linked to the middle and working class and to small and medium-sized companies", Moreno defended in his announcement, which took place this morning at the Joly Forum in Madrid where he was accompanied by the president of the national PP. Alberto Nunez Feijoo. But his thesis is not backed by either the PSOE-A or the IU.
It has been the socialist deputy in Parliament, Isabel Ambrosio, who has made a first reading of Moreno's words on the abolition of the Wealth Tax. "It is a new propaganda operation to which we are accustomed", while she has warned that the measure "does not solve those waiting lists of 900,000 Andalusians or the lack of teachers, especially in rural areas".
Ambrosio has maintained that "what he pursues is to benefit a few" after showing that the Andalusian president has alluded in his speech to "those senior executives who do not live in Andalusia and whom he can attract". "His responsibility to him, in the first place, should be the improvement of public services", which "is the best heritage of Andalusians", in reference to health, education and social services ".
For his part, Toni Valero, general coordinator of IU Andalucía, has insisted that this measure "results in an unfair fiscal policy in which the greatest tax burden falls again on working people, and where large fortunes increasingly contribute less ", while, with it, the also leader of the PP-A "points to 'fiscal dumping'".
"This is the general trend in the PP, which continues to act where it governs against the criteria of the European institutions, which are insisting on fiscal progressivity, and which demand measures so that the great fortunes pay what corresponds to them", Toni Valero has warned.
The leader of IU Andalucía has added, however, that "it is not surprising" this behavior by the PP, which "a few days ago voted against the fact that the large electricity companies, which are making gold with the price of energy, pay more taxes with those multimillion-dollar profits that they are earning at the cost of unaffordable bills for many Andalusians", as he has denounced.
There are three measures announced by Moreno Bonilla, who continues to defend that the "massive" reduction in taxes "benefits" Andalusians, and defends that this reduction in fiscal pressure "has increased" tax collection.
In the first place, 100% of the Wealth Tax will be eliminated or discounted, which represents 0.6% of tax collection and "represents a brake on investment", with which, in his opinion, it will prevent some taxpayers leave the region.
Secondly, the suspension for one year of the collection of the water canon, a tax that appears on citizens' bills and is intended for improvements to hydraulic infrastructures, will be a help for families and companies, and will mean savings of up to 140 million euros.
And, finally, the tax reduction that includes deflating the Personal Income Tax (IRPF) by 4.3% for the first three sections (those with annual income of less than 40,000 euros) and the personal and family minimum in the 2022 statement.
"These are measures that mean real and clear help in the face of inflation: more money in the pockets of families to face rising prices," said Moreno, who commented that this new package will save 350 million euros, which, added to the previous massive tax cuts, will mean throughout 2023 that a total of "900 million euros will remain in the hands of families as a result of the successive tax cuts in Andalusia," it determined.
