The Government has rejected reducing the VAT on masks from 21% to 4% after calculating that the measure would cause “1,568 million euros of lower revenue per year.”

The Executive has also dropped the request to finance PCR tests for the self-employed, SMEs and security forces and bodies, as well as all health services personnel, considering that these measures “would mean an increase in spending or a decrease in budget revenue “.

With this justification, the Executive has vetoed the amendments that PP, Ciudadanos and Vox intended to present this Tuesday in Congress in the committee that debates the Bill of urgent prevention, containment and coordination measures to face the health crisis caused by the coronavirus.

“Decrease in income”

The proposal to lower VAT on masks, promoted by the Citizens’ parliamentary group, has been rejected, according to the Government, following European legislation: “The Court of Justice of the European Union, (…), already it specified the scope of Annex III in relation to Spanish legislation, not allowing the taxation at a reduced rate of goods such as gloves, masks or disinfectant gels and other similar products “.

However, in the letter prepared by the Secretary of State for Relations with the Courts, to which EL MUNDO has had access, the answer to the formation orange On the part of the Executive branch, it ends by adding that “a VAT reduction such as the one proposed by the Citizens Group amendment supposes a decrease in income for the State.”

“If a daily consumption of 50 million per day of masks is assumed, the annual cost of the rate reduction from 21% to 4% would mean 1,568 million euros of lower revenue per year”, they calculate from the Government.

Almost 14 billion in masks

The processing of two amendments registered by Vox, which required the provision of masks for all Spanish citizens and, in addition, to provide at least one PCR to all members of the Police, has also been denied. the Civil Guard and workers in the health services.

As explained by the Government, the first amendment would cost 13,811 million euros a year to achieve the absolute financing of the 47.3 million Spaniards, attending an average of two masks per day per person.

In the case of PCR, at 18 euros the test would mean an expense of more than 10.7 million euros per year to guarantee that the more than half a million workers in health services and security forces received at least one test.

SMEs and the self-employed

Another of the amendments vetoed in the commission is the one promoted by the PP, which requested greater financial support from the self-employed and SMEs for the purchase of masks and the performance of PCR.

“Taking into account that there are some 3 million SMEs in Spain that employ about 10 million people and assuming an average consumption of 2 masks per day for each worker in 253 working days and foreseeing the use of surgical masks with a unit acquisition cost of 0.40 euros, the annual cost of the total financing of masks would be 2,024 million euros “, they explain from the Executive.

In addition, the cost of at least one PCR to them would cost, according to the calculations exposed from Moncloa, no less than 180 million euros.

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