Madrid (EFE) Wednesday the Episcopal Conference and the Ministry of the Presidency.
In this way, the Government will repeal the ministerial order of June 5, 2001 of the Ministry of Economy and Finance which regulates the inclusion of this tax in the Agreement between the Spanish State and the Holy See on Economic Affairs.
This decision, the result of an agreement between the Ministry of the Presidency and the Catholic Church on tax matters, is due to “the shared will between the Government of Spain and the Spanish Episcopal Conference to equate the tax regime of the Catholic Church with the non-profit entities, in accordance with the principle of non-privilege and non-discrimination”.
Bolaños estimates the income from taxes that the Church will pay at 16 million
The Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, has estimated the new income that the municipalities will have at 16 million euros per year thanks to the agreement between the Government and the Episcopal Conference.
This was announced this Wednesday by Bolaños at a press conference after signing the agreement with the Holy See and the EEC. “This agreement means the end of the fiscal privileges of the Catholic Church in the payment of two taxes. As of today, the Church will be treated like any non-profit entity in Spain”, Bolaños stated.
He highlighted the importance of this agreement, the result of a year of “intense work of discreet negotiation”, which has resulted in this exchange of notes between the Church and the Government of Spain “which will have so many benefits for the public treasury of the municipalities and local entities”.
Specifically, the minister has said that the city councils will collect more than 16 million euros a year through these taxes.
Bolaños stressed that the agreement is based on the principles of equality, non-discrimination and non-privilege and thanked the Church for waiving the exemption from paying these two taxes.
He recalled that the fiscal regime of the Church in Spain derives from the economic agreements with the Holy See, signed in January 1979, and explained that the agreement reached today allows modifications through the exchange of notes.
“With this agreement between the Government of Spain and the Holy See, the tax privileges of the Catholic Church in the payment of taxes end,” he stressed.
