Halfway through the week in which the results are presented, Santander, Sabadell and Repsol insist they will try to avoid fiscal “arbitrariness”
The vagaries of the political calendar have crossed the agendas of the major Spanish companies, which present their half-year results to the market during these days. Coinciding with the week in which the entities settle their accounts, the government has started to process the tax that will be levied on the income of the financial sector. And the corporate executives have taken the opportunity to sue the tax that, they argue, will ultimately hurt savers and shareholders of minority banks in one way or another.
Banco Santander CEO José Antonio Álvarez yesterday lamented that the tax “stigmatizes the sector” and warned that no matter who it affects, taxes will not fight inflation. This became apparent during the presentation of the results for the semester, a period in which Santander earned 4,894 million euros, 33% more than in the same period of 2021.
The commission believes that the collection target of 3,000 million euros in two years that the cabinet has in mind will reduce the sector’s capacity to lend out about 50,000 million. According to him, with that 3,000 million, the bank can lend 50,000 million to the economy. “It is an account. This capital deducts the capacity to borrow in the amount of 50,000 million euros. The market dynamics will be what they should be,” emphasized Álvarez, warning that shareholders and the economy would be the first to suffer from the tax.
In this sense, the bank employers AEB and CECA also spoke, where they believe that it is a measure that will not achieve the objective of fighting inflation and, moreover, will hinder recovery and job creation.
Banco Sabadell’s CEO, César González-Bueno, has argued that the tax should be “competitively neutral” and warned that those affected will mainly be small savers. The entity has earned 393 million euros until June, 78.6% more.
The executive considers it “essential” that the taxable event respects the framework of competition between entities so that it does not favor any entity or exclude some from paying the tax or define a method of payment that harms some entities against others.
He has indicated that 50% of Sabadell is owned by 224,000 private shareholders with an average investment of 1,950 euros each, meaning that “the vast majority are small savers”. González-Bueno has also pointed to the sector’s tax burden, which in his case exceeds EUR 800 million.
In Repsol’s case, its CEO, Josu Jon Imaz, has denied that the oil company is receiving “benefits from heaven” for its operations in the current context of rising energy prices and has assured that it will do “everything possible” to fight against any “random” initiative.
Imaz assured that “he has no doubt” that the constitutional and legal framework, both of the European Union and of Spain, will protect Repsol from any “possibly arbitrary initiative or measures”.
The company posted a net profit of EUR 2,539 million in the first half of the year, after doubling last year’s profit, driven by the increase in hydrocarbon prices and refining margins.
Electricity companies such as Endesa and Iberdrola filed a tax return on Wednesday. And yesterday, the Aelec organization indicated that “it is not justified by the existence of extraordinary benefits”, as the companies “do not get these benefits because of the series of measures that have been approved so far”.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
