The union of technicians of the Ministry of Finance, Gestha, has assured that almost half of the taxpayers would not have to pay the Inheritance and Donation Tax even with the elimination of the bonuses that the autonomous communities currently grant to this tax, which benefits “a minority of wealthier households.”
According to Gestha data based on statistics from the Bank of Spain, half of Spanish households with heads of household between 65 and 74 years old have less than the median wealth, 225,800 euros. Lower figures when the head of the family is 75 years old or older, in which case the wealth drops to 221,400 euros.
This means that the heir children would hardly pay taxes, since the inheritance would be distributed among them. The Treasury technicians emphasize that the reductions in the tax base of the tax, as well as the 99% bonuses decreed by many autonomous communities (in charge of managing this tax) “would have no effect on these families.”
Gestha is committed to the harmonization of the tax to prevent, due to the state transfer of it, situations of benefit for millionaire inheritances. With this, the union explains, it would contribute to reducing inequality, improving equal opportunities and strengthening the public finances of the autonomous communities.
The regional financing model
The union has also pointed out the need for the Government and the communities to definitively agree on the new regional financing model in 2025, something that should include a wide range of measures, which would include the different harmonization measures of the state taxes transferred to those communities.
In a press release, Gestha technicians have asserted that “taxes such as Inheritance and Wealth are transferred to the common regime regions and, some of them have long maintained an unwanted tax competition that increases tax inequality between households and reduces the collection of these transferred taxes”.