MADRID, 06 (SERVIMEDIA)
The Financial Transfer Tax (ITF), better known as the 'Tobin tax', is already applied to the purchase and sale of shares of the 52 largest listed companies in Spain, which had a market capitalization of more than 1,000 million euros as of December 1, 2022.
This figure is less than the number of large companies taxed by this tax during the previous year. Then there were 57 companies, five more than in 2023. This decrease is due to the depreciation of the total value of up to six companies –Zardoya Otis, Amrest, Prosegur, CAF, Applus and Aedas Homes–, which have been affected by the general fall stock markets after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On the other side of the coin, is Faes Farma. It has surpassed this level after recovering a capitalization similar to that of 2021 and, as a consequence, it returns to the list after leaving last year.
The 'Tobin tax' levies 0.2% on the amount of operations for the acquisition of shares of Spanish companies, regardless of the residence of the agents involved in the operations, provided that they are listed companies and that the capitalization value stock market value of the company exceeds 1,000 million euros.
Thus, if an investor buys Inditex shares for a value of 1,000 euros, he must declare this operation before the Tax Agency and pay 2 euros in tax. This assumption, however, does not affect intraday operations, that is, the set of stock market operations that occur on the same day to benefit from the fluctuations in value that a company experiences in the short term ('trading').
FALLS OF UP TO 43%
This tax will not affect Zardoya Otis, which, despite having a market capitalization of more than 3,300 million euros – which would include it on the list – left the Stock Exchange last April after Otis completed an offer takeover bid (OPA) that raised its stake in the company to 95% of the titles.
Nor will Amrest be there after the value of its capitalization fell by 30.6% to 972 million in 2022. Prosegur (-23.2%), CAF (-27.6%), Applus (-24.6%) and Aedas Homes (-42.8%) also suffered significant falls that took them far from 1,000 million.
The companies that will be affected by the 'Tobin tax' will be those that lead the Ibex-35, including Inditex, Iberdrola, Banco Santander, Caixabank, Cellnex, BBVA, Amadeus, Naturgy, Telefónica or Endesa; as well as companies such as Mediaset (1,004 million capitalization), Línea Directa (1,101 million) or Metrovacesa (1,137 million), which pass the filter with less margin.
COLLECTION FOR 2023
In this context, the Ministry of Finance and Public Function expects to collect 335 million with this rate during 2023, 10% less than the estimate for the 2022 financial year. However, it remains to be seen if this objective is achievable.
It should be remembered that the Government proposed to collect 850 million with this rate in 2021, the first year of application. Finally, the aspirations of the Executive of Pedro Sánchez failed, since the amount remained 269 million euros, barely 31% of what was planned.
In the 2022 General State Budget (PGE), the Government corrected its position and lowered the target to 372 million, but everything indicates that it will be lower again, since up to November it has collected 285 million, 76.6% Of the objective.
Now, with five fewer companies on the list, it remains to be seen if the collection of the 'Tobin tax' exceeds 300 million euros, although the Government trusts its claims to the recovery of the investment climate.
(SERVIMEDIA) 06-JAN-2023 2:57 PM (GMT 1) PTR/clc
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