Sign up to create alerts for Instruments,
Economic Events and content by followed authors
Free Sign Up Already have an account? Sign In
Sep 15, 2022 12:29PM ET
What you suggest we consider first
0
0
Quotes
All Instrument Types
- All Instrument Types
- Indices
- Equities
- ETFs
- Funds
- Commodities
- Currencies
- Crypto
- Bonds
- Certificates
Please try another search
⏰ Save Valuable Time with Faster Stock Data & Tools Go Pro Now
Spanish government open to modifying tax on banks, energy firms
© Reuters.
By Belén Carreño and Jesús Aguado
MADRID (Reuters) -The Spanish government is open to modifying its proposed bill on a windfall tax on banks and large energy companies to ensure that it does not hurt the country's financial stability and is in line with European proposals, ministers said on Thursday.
In July, Spain's leftist ruling coalition introduced a bill in parliament to create a temporary levy on banks and large energy companies, aiming to raise 7 billion euros by 2024 to ease cost-of-living pressures.
Referring to the bill on banks, Economy Minister Nadia Calvino told a business event that the legislation would eventually be amended in parliament "to be able to finance all the measures to support citizens and the working classes."
On Tuesday, the lower house accepted the bill for debate. The ruling coalition wants the legislation approved before the end of the year.
"We have to make sure that it does not have any negative impact from the point of view of financial stability, that is obvious," Calvino said.
Spanish bank shares were the top performers on the IBEX-35 blue-chip index on Thursday, with Caixabank, Sabadell, and Bankinter were up around 4%. Shares in the bigger and more geographically diversified lenders such as Santander (BME:SAN) and BBVA (BME:BBVA) were up 3% and 2%, respectively, on expectations for changes to the bill.
Bank of Spain Governor Pablo Hernandez de Cos has already hinted that the ECB could issue a negative opinion on the tax.
While the proposed tax on banks carry a charge of 4.8% on bank's net interest income and net commissions, the levy on energy companies includes a 1.2% tax on power utilities' sales.
On Thursday, Spain's budget minister Maria Jesus Montero also opened the door to changing the proposed tax on power and energy companies.
Asked if Spain could change the bill to tax profits instead of sales, Montero told private TV broadcaster Antena3: "It is quite clear that if Europe takes a decision along those lines, we will bring our tax into line with what Europe is proposing."
The European Commission outlined a set of emergency measures on Wednesday saying it would introduce a temporary tax on windfall profits at oil, gas, coal and refining companies, that would apply to 33% of these firms' taxable surplus profits from 2022.
Shares in Repsol (OTC:REPYY) were down 1.6%, while shares in Iberdrola (OTC:IBDRY) were falling 0.33%.
Related Articles
Comments (1)
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
Report this comment
I feel that this comment is:
Comment flagged
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.