The treasury received 2,908 million euros from extraordinary banking and energy taxes, as announced this Wednesday by the acting head of the Ministry of Finance, María Jesús Montero, in an interview with Cadena Ser. The number is in line with the forecasts given by the Executive in February, after knowing the results of the first payment due to the two taxes. These taxes are intended to tax the so-called windfall profits-even if they are calculated based on turnover-that these companies produce thanks to the current situation of rising prices and rising energy prices.
In fact, Montero mentioned the “big” profit of a financial institution, referring to the record profit of 8,143 million until September announced by Banco Santander this Wednesday —11% more than last year—, to defend the maintenance of these taxes. beyond the two years originally planned. That is, beyond 2024.
This is also reflected in the agreement between the PSOE and Sumar that was signed this Tuesday between the acting president, Pedro Sánchez, and the second vice president, Yolanda Díaz. The Minister of Labor also assured the presentation of the agreement that if the coalition governs again, the extraordinary tax on banks and energy companies will be strengthened. “We are in a unique situation and we cannot afford to lose this income,” he said.
“We will review the taxes of banks and energy companies with the aim of reading and maintaining them once their current application period ends, so that both sectors continue to contribute to tax justice and welfare maintenance state,” the agreement says. between the two formations.
The entities affected by the two levies – which were not approved as taxes, but as non-tax property benefits – paid the first payment in February – an account payment of 50% of the total -, equivalent to 1,454 million euros: the financial entities The main energy groups paid 637.1 million euros, and 817.4 million. “(This figure) anticipates a real annual collection of more than 2.9 billion,” Montero said earlier. “This is an acceptable amount because of the number of benefits they have,” he added. The amount of the second disbursement, made in September, is very similar: 1,453 million, of which 827 million correspond to energy companies and 626 million to banks.
In total, banks pay around 1,263 million in the year for the new tax, while energy companies pay around 1,644 million. The two unique taxes affect only large companies: financial entities with an interest and commission margin of more than 800 million in 2019 must pay 4.8% of that margin, while energy companies with turnover of more than 1,000 million during the same period, 1.2% is applied to the net amount of turnover.
The Executive, initially, calculated that the new figures would provide an additional 3.5 billion a year, 2,000 from energy and 2,500 from the bank. This amount, however, was reduced to 3,000 million after several changes were introduced throughout the parliamentary process. Among them, the exclusion of foreign banks from taxation.
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Banks and energy companies have paid the new taxes despite expressing doubts since they were announced, calling them “discriminatory and unreasonable” and considering that there are “sufficient legal grounds” to win the court Companies such as Repsol, Sabadell, Bankinter and Kutxabank appealed against the taxes, but the National Court refused to take precautionary measures.
The head of the Treasury, for his part, insisted on the full legality of the two taxes: “Every time we legislate we do it with legal certainty and, of course, we think that we will use the interested parties resource placed. in these tax numbers. profit”. In addition, he reiterated the intention included in the agreement between PSOE and Sumar to continue the two taxes beyond 2024 with the necessary “adjustments”. “Before the end of their validity, we will review both number and extend it, include all the elements that allow them to be safer or stronger,” he assured.
