Enthusiasm Whipped Up
Ahead of June 26 election, Spain’s acting Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, issued a Brussels Showdown, Tax Cut Vow hoping to get votes.
“The promise is intended to whip up enthusiasm for Mr Rajoy’s campaign, with a June ballot approaching after an inconclusive December election where his Popular party finished first but lost so many seats it was unable to cobble together a parliamentary majority”.
Today, Rajoy says Spain Set for Corporate Tax Rise as Madrid Tackles Deficit.
The private sector in Spain is set to shoulder most of the burden as the government moves to bring its wayward deficit into line, after the economy minister unveiled plans to raise an extra €6bn in corporate taxes next year.
Madrid is under intense pressure to find new ways to cut its yawning budget shortfall after EU finance ministers agreed on Tuesday to formally open sanctions procedures against Spain and Portugal.
Both countries were found to have done too little to reduce their “excessive” deficits, which under EU fiscal rules should be no more than three per cent of gross domestic product.
The government plans to raise an additional €6bn by establishing a “minimum rate” of tax to be paid by corporations. In addition, Spain foresees an additional €1bn in tax revenues through a crackdown on tax evasion, and savings of €1.5bn in borrowing costs as a result of lower than expected interest rates.
At a time when Mariano Rajoy, Spain’s acting prime minister, is in the midst of sensitive talks about forming a new government, either of those moves could have made an already difficult negotiation with the centre-left Socialists even more complex.
Groundhog Day
Via translation, Huky Guru writes We Repeat: Rajoy Promised to Lower Corporate Taxes Not Raise Them
I do not know if Mariano Rajoy has something to do with Bill Murray, but the PP government begins to remind the movie Groundhog Day, in which the weatherman Phil Connors lives trapped in a time loop in which each day waking occurs that lives in the previous day.
As in 2012, once again Rajoy promised in his election campaign he would lower corporate taxes after the the election.
On 4 June in Barcelona, during the presentation of the main measures of its program, Rajoy himself stood for lower taxes as the great commitment of his Popular Party (PP) legislature.
Real McCoy vs. Fake Rajoy
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATAshDSEpos&w=500&h=300]
The “Real McCoy” lives on in history. The “Fake Rajoy” is a liar surrounded by scandals.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
