Madrid (EFE).- The six large Spanish banks and the five main energy companies have already set aside some 2,600 million euros to deal with the new temporary tax approved by the Government and with which they intend to raise some 7,000 million in two years.
The rate taxes the interest margin and net commissions of the banking business in Spain with 4.8%, which the Executive considers extraordinary benefits due to the rise in interest rates, in banks with a turnover of more than 800 million in 2019.
In the case of energy companies, the tax affects electricity, gas and oil companies that billed more than 1,000 million in 2019, and taxes sales with a rate of 1.2% except for regulated income and those from outside Spain .
The government’s idea is to use the money it collects from these new taxes to cover part of the cost of the social measures promoted to help the most vulnerable families in the face of rising inflation and the rising cost of living.
Both the banks and the energy companies have publicly charged against the tax and have also appealed it in court, but the moment has left them no choice but to pay it and charge it in full to the accounts for the first quarter of this year.
About 2.6 billion
The energy companies Repsol, Cepsa, Naturgy, Iberdrola and Endesa have reserved almost 1,500 million to face the extraordinary tax this year, to which are added the more than 1,100 million discounted by the banks in the first three months of 2023 with the same aim.
Due to its size in Spain, Repsol, the country’s main oil company, subtracted 450 million from its results to face the tax, followed by CaixaBank, which has set aside 373 million at the end of the first quarter. Next would be Cepsa, with 323 million, and Naturgy, which estimated around 300 million.
Above 200 million appear BBVA and Santander, with 225 and 224 million, respectively. Very close to Iberdrola, with 216 million, and Endesa, which, in the absence of publishing its accounts next week, will foreseeably have reserved 208 million.
In the case of Sabadell, the impact of the extraordinary tax on the accounts for the first quarter amounted to 157 million, above the 77 million for Bankinter or the 63.8 million for Unicaja Banco.
This allowed large energy companies and financial institutions to pay since February, coinciding with the first payment of the tribute, 1,454.5 million, according to the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero.
The energy tax collected in the first period 817.4 million and the bank, 637.1 million, with which in the year, including the final payment of September, it will exceed 2,900 million, in line with what was foreseen by the Government.
As it is a tax on the billing of entities in Spain, its relationship with the net profit of the company is very different, especially if the international presence of groups such as Santander, BBVA or Iberdrola is taken into account.
In the case of Cepsa, the oil company enters losses in the first quarter of the year by subtracting the impact of 323 million from the tax, while Unicaja Banco and Sabadell, for example, see their profits reduced after subtracting the amounts to be paid this year.
The entry The six large banks and five Spanish energy companies set aside 2,600 million for the new tax was first published in EFE Noticias.