Spain To Raise Taxes For Rich, Low Earners To Pay Much Less

Spain’s treasury minister announced a significant reform to Spain’s tax policy on Thursday, which would see the richest people paying more taxes and millions of lower earners paying less.

Treasury Minister Maria Jesus Montero said; “Since we began governing, we’ve been working to make our fiscal system more progressive, efficient and strong enough to support social justice and economic efficiency.”

One of the major new measures is the so-called “solidarity tax” — a two-year wealth tax that would apply to those who own more than €3 million ($2.91 million) in assets.

The scheme would see around 23,000 people paying on a scale of between 1.7% and 3.5% of their riches in extraordinary taxes, according to the plan.

With that wealth tax, Spain hopes to raise around €1.5 billion annually from the country’s 0.1% most affluent segment.

The government also hopes to raise an extra €2.4 billion in two years by limiting the amount of money that large companies can offset to 50% of losses.

Women would also save on feminine hygiene products, with the government slashing the sales tax from 10% to 4%.

The measures have been agreed upon by Spain’s progressive coalition government but still need to be passed in parliament.