The president of the Valencia Region, Ximo Puig, has announced a tax reform for the social majority made up of 97.4% of the population that lowers taxes on 1.3 million taxpayers with medium and low incomes and will report global savings of 149 million euro to families.
The president outlined the axes of this tax reform during his speech at the General Policy Debate at Les Corts, where he indicated that he is seeking to promote measures that directly benefit all those who earn less than 60,000 euro a year, as well as such as promoting economic activity and employment and protecting those who are most punished by inflation. In addition, he has stressed that this reform will already apply to the 2022 Income, because it will have retroactive effects to January 1 of this year.
The President began his speech advancing that the public response to inflation will be reflected in actions such as a tax deduction of 100 euro for families with a mortgage, aimed at individual incomes of up to 30,000 euro or 47,000 euro for the case of joint taxation, or the free public transport of the Generalitat metro, tram and buses for young people from 0 to 30 years of age, which will benefit this entire age group (1.5 million people) and will apply from 9 October until December 31.
Increase in the amount exempt from taxation
In addition, he stressed that these actions will be accompanied by three important fiscal measures. The first of these is that the amount exempt from taxation for all citizens increases by 10%, the maximum allowed by the rule, which will benefit all people, although those who exceed 60,000 euro in income will keep their tax effort in the reform set.
The second measure will consist of a new autonomous personal income tax rate for this year, with new sections adapted to the current situation. For this concept alone, incomes of 10,000 euro will save 94.5 euro, those of 20,000 will save 117 euro, those of 30,000 will save 67 euro and incomes over 60,000 euro will maintain their tax effort, which will improve progressivity of the tax.
The third measure expands all tax deductions and rebates and also expands the number of beneficiaries. Specifically, as he has explained, all deductions increase by 10%, and he has cited in this section those existing for son or daughter, for renting a home, for a large or single-parent family, for reconciling work with family life or for expenses in nursery or school for sons or daughters under 3 years of age.
In addition, he has remarked that more people will be able to take advantage of the deductions, because, from now on, the income that can benefit from the deduction will go from 25,000 to 30,000 euro.
Average savings of 111 euro per taxpayer
These three measures will benefit 1,344,000 taxpayers “all those who earn less than 60,000 euro, the majority of society”, since “the highest incomes will pay the same as until now”. “This is the progressive tax reform, the tax reform for 97.4% of the population”, with “an average saving of more than 100 euro per taxpayer and an overall saving of 149 million for families, and of these, two thirds benefit incomes of less than 30,000 euro”, he indicated.
The president has underlined that in 2015 the most regressive tax system in Spain was inherited and the fiscal shift given by the Consell has allowed the Valencian Community to be led to “the most progressive tax system”. “Here, neither immobility nor tax gifts to fortunes”, he said, and added: “Some lower taxes on the richest, here the majority of society is helped to make ends meet”.
“That is why today we are lowering taxes on 1.3 million Valencians and that is why we are not lowering them on the highest incomes, because if the objective is social justice, the path is called fiscal justice”, added the president, who has remarked: “Here we do not touch the wealth tax, for which only 0.5% of Valencians are taxed”, that is, “those who have assets of more than half a million euro”.
As an example, he pointed out that, thanks to the announced measures, a young single person under the age of 35, who earns 28,000 euro, and pays off 8,000 euro mortgage, will save 530 euro on the tax return; a young couple, with two small children, who earn 30,000 and 38,000 euro, will save 845 euro in the declaration, a couple under 35, who pay 8,000 euro a year in rent, and earn 18,000 and 21,000 euro, will save 262 euro or a single-parent family with a 4-year-old child and an income of 25,000 euro will save 224 euro.
The president also alluded in his speech to the fact that the Valencian Community has received more resources from the EU in two and a half years than all the European funds in the previous 14 years (4,5 billion euro), and has made public the Valencian request that has directed the First Vice President and Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño so that the additional 7,7 billion that Spain has received promote strategic business interests for Valencians.
In this sense, it has advanced that a new PERTE has been requested for the decarbonisation of the tile sector and proposals for the second block of the European Recovery Mechanism, which will be distributed between 2024 and 2026, and in which the Consell aspires to capture 5 billion more to invest in projects and for a business oxygen operation that includes 2,7 billion to give discounted credits to companies.
Energy transition
With regard to the energy transition, it has also advanced support measures from the Generalitat for the industrial sectors that are having the worst time and, in particular, for ceramics, since the Government’s aid to the gas-intensive sector will be completed until limit set by the European Union -he will address this issue with the ceramic companies this week at Cersaie and will meet with the person in charge of the Italian region of Emilia Romagna- and, in parallel, the Government and the EU will be urged to extend the aid framework and the resources to continue supporting the sector.
Likewise, it will be requested that renewable energy projects, their connection to the network, the network itself and its assets be declared of superior public interest, which will allow large renewable energy projects to be authorized in one year, a plan will be presented Valencian for the development of the solar industry.
Ximo Puig has pointed out, on the other hand, that the map of opportunities that has made it possible to trace the “stability, solvency and confidence” generated by the Valencian Community will add to “historic operations” to attract investments such as those of Volkswagen or Ford continues to allow adding to new companies. In this sense, “the arrival of a new large multinational” has advanced, since the Japanese company Hitachi “will deploy a software development centre in Valencia in the coming weeks, and it will do so through its subsidiary Global Logic, and added that advanced talks are under way to establish a headquarters for the Centre for Digital Technology in Munich in the Community.
Puig has expressed in this section the will of the Generalitat to “invest the legal maximum in direct aid to leading companies that settle in the Community”, especially those companies with a technological and innovative base.
200 million euro for job creation
The president has also advanced that the largest Employment Plan will be promoted, with more than 200 million euro, and has detailed in this sense that the hiring programs for young people will be increased by 50% (up to 57 million euro), which will be will double the support for the indefinite hiring of vulnerable groups (up to 26 million), that 12 million will be allocated to employment workshops for young people with difficulties in finding work and that the Avalem Capacitats Plan will also be created, for people with functional diversity.
In addition, another package of initiatives has been advanced to support the productive sectors, with a new free justice service for SMEs, micro-enterprises, self-employed workers and self-employed workers who face defaults, dismissals or other problems derived from inflation. and war.
Likewise, the Valencian Institute of Finance will begin to mobilise 180 million in loans to companies at 1.5%, with 20% non-reimbursable aid and to repay in 10 years, with up to 5 million euro per company to help invest now face operating expenses due to the rise in interest rates.
Valencian Forestry Cooperation Fund
Likewise, Puig has announced the creation of a Valencian Forestry Cooperation Fund for better maintenance of forests, fire prevention and greater reforestation with a budget of 50 million euro that the Generalitat will transfer to the municipalities. It will be proposed to the councils that they supplement this plan with 30 million more.
He has also announced a line of aid to compensate agricultural owners who recover or maintain crops in areas of strategic forest value, with a budget of 5 million in 2023.
Extension of non-invasive prenatal testing to all pregnant women
Regarding health initiatives, innovative measures have been advanced, such as the expansion of non-invasive prenatal testing to all pregnant women. Likewise, the Community will be a pioneer in Spain in facilitating that all chronically ill people with hospital pharmacological treatment can pick up their medication at the pharmacy or at the health centre without having to go to the hospital. Likewise, new resources will be established for diabetes: day hospitals throughout the territory and diabetic foot units for immediate assistance to people at risk of amputation. The extension of screening to detect cervical cancer in the entire target population from 2023 will also be facilitated.
Puig has also detailed that it will be implemented, as an exceptional measure for December until the normalisation of delays in surgical interventions, that those patients who have to be operated on for the most prevalent pathologies and are going to have to wait more than 60 days, can choose the option to be intervened in the concerted Health.
Awareness campaign to prevent suicides in adolescents
With regard to initiatives in the educational field, Puig has remarked that, among other measures, an adolescent awareness campaign will be launched to prevent suicidal and self-harm behaviour, 10 integrated VT centres will be set up in the coming years, in addition to 2 centres of symbolic VT of the new Valencian model: a training centre to meet the needs of the Sagunto gigafactory and a centre together in the City of Light to reinforce the audiovisual labour fabric.
Measures in social care and housing
In social care, the president has indicated that the Vice Presidency will pilot the renewal and expansion of the pact against gender violence, as well as actions such as a new advanced teleassistance system through 50,000 complementary technological supports, the implementation of the Social History Unique, to monitor the social context of the dependent person and the creation of the figure of the Child Assistant person to accompany minors with functional diversity who need therapeutic rehabilitation.
In housing, the Second Vice Presidency will undertake the approval of a public housing regulation that will meet a historical demand of the promoters. The new text, which will be published in December, will speed up public-private collaboration in order to speed up the Generalitat’s public promotion plans. In addition, another important measure, scheduled for October, will be a new tender for lots to promote the construction of public housing. With this, the aim is to build 1,090 homes on public land distributed in 51 areas of the Valencian Community. Altogether, 50 million in these promotions, with which 151 million public-private collaboration will be mobilised.
In public transport, in the province of Alicante, a study will be carried out on the TRAM from the Alicante-Elche Airport to Torrevieja and between Orihuela and Torrevieja and the informative study of the Dénia-Gandia TRAM will be put out to tender imminently; in Castelló, the studies will be awarded so that FGV establishes itself with the power that Plana needs to meet the economic, labour and social needs of the metropolitan area. In Valencia, before the end of the year, the extension of the L10 to connect Nazaret with the seafront, the new L11 from the Ciutat de les Arts to the Grau and L12, which will connect the centre of the city with the Hospital La Fe.
