untitled design

The Generalitat calls on the Government to make a tax moratorium on the pandemic

The Vice-President of the Generalitat acting as President, Pere Aragones, has asked in a letter to the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, for a moratorium on the payment of VAT, corporation tax and Social Security contributions for the sectors most affected by measures to curb the Covid-19 pandemic.

Aragones, also the conseller of Economy and Finance of the Govern, emphasizes in his menu that the “difficult but absolutely essential” measures taken by the Generalitat for the pandemic particularly affect sectors such as bars and restaurants and create a difficult economic scenario, so he asks the central executive to “live up to it”.

“We have made difficult decisions,” Aragones explains, “because they have a very severe impact on very important economic sectors of our country. But we have made the necessary decisions to try to advance the response to an evolution of the Covid-19 that threatens, if we do not stop it in time, with causing a situation as complicated as the one we experienced last spring.”

CLAIMS RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED IN CATALONIA

Aragones stresses that “one of the most outstanding measures and with a major economic derivative” is to limit the activity of bars and restaurants for 15 days.

“Following this measure,” he argues, “there is no other will to help limit social interactions in spaces where, despite the great efforts of professionals, citizens over-relax and facilitate the spread of the pandemic. It is a severe measure at the economic level but at the same time totally essential at the health level.”

The Vice-President also points out that similar measures have been taken, such as the closure of ludotecas, amusement parks, playrooms and aesthetic centres, and limited the capacity to economic areas as diverse as nightlife, “which has not been able to work for months”, he stresses.

The Vice-President indicates that the Govern, at its next meeting, will adopt a package of economic measures aimed at these sectors, including a line of extraordinary guarantees through the Institut Catalo de Finances (ICF) to meet the short-term treasury needs of companies.

“But if we really want (the measures) to act as a real rescue plan,” Aragones adds, “we need to be accompanied by a moratorium on tax collection.”

THE GOVERN DEMANDS URGENCY FROM THE EXECUTIVE

The Vice-President points out that “it is imperative that in view of the difficult situation faced by many Catalan companies”, the Government decrees the moratorium on the payment of VAT, Corporation Tax and Social Security contributions, as well as a moratorium on the payment of loans and basic supplies.

“What would make no sense,” the vice-president continues, “is for the state to continue to collect taxes normally when many companies, as a result of measures to curb COVID-19, cannot operate normally.”

Aragonese therefore calls for the Government to act “as quickly as possible and take all necessary measures to prevent the actions taken to curb COVID-19 from ending the viability of many companies”.

The Economics and Finance Adviser assures that his “is an urgent demand”, that if he depended on the Generalitat, “already” he would have taken, and that he adds, remembers, “to the undained need to help parents who cannot work financially because they must care for children in pre-trial quarantine”.

Aragones also reiterates in its letter the request that the Generalitat directly manage the part of the European reconstruction funds that correspond to Catalonia, and explains that its government has designed “a revival plan with a clear transformative vocation of the productive model”.

“Therefore, the letter goes on – only the commitment of the Government of the State to transfer to the Generalitat the European resources that correspond to us in order to begin to lay the foundations for the exit from the crisis is lacking.”

Source link

You may also like

Get the latest

Stay Informed: Get the Latest Updates and Insights

 

Most popular