Together votes with PP, Vox and Alliance to eliminate the inheritance tax

BarcelonaThe ideological axis became evident this Wednesday in Parliament and has overridden the differences on the national axis maintained by parties such as the PP and Junts. The Junts members sided with the Popular Party in defending a bill by Alejandro Fernández's group that proposed eliminating the inheritance tax. The initiative also received the support of Vox and Aliança Catalana, but it will not be processed in Parliament because the amendments to the whole presented by the PSC, ERC, and the CUP have prospered. This tax has always represented the dividing line when identifying a left-wing or right-wing party. And, in this case, it was no exception.

"We have the obligation to eliminate this tax for the justice of all Catalans. Otherwise, you will be putting obstacles in the way of Catalans who are making this country grow," defended the spokesperson for the PP, Juan Fernández, who stated, addressing the left-wing parties: "Let what you vote on today fall on your conscience." The spokesperson for Vox, Joan Garriga, joined in, advocating for a policy of low taxes, equal for all autonomous communities. "When we govern, we will repeal this tax, and if we have to reach an agreement with the PP, we will put it on the table," Garriga stated.

Junts, in turn, has once again defended eliminating this tax for a matter of "social justice." The Junts deputy Antoni Castellà recalled that various surveys by the Centre d'Estudis d'Opinió (CEO) show that 80% of the population considers it an "unjust tax that should be eliminated." "The injustice of this tax does not lie with the very rich, who always get away with it, but especially with the fiscal architecture of the Spanish state," he defended.

"We are not talking about the very rich, but about the working classes and the self-employed, about the middle classes of the country," he added. Castellà considers that as long as "fiscal plundering" continues, fiscal pressure on Catalans must be reduced. The leader of Aliança Catalana, Sílvia Orriols, also defended the abolition of the inheritance tax, and she lashed out at the left-wing parties: "Did you vote for them to generate wealth or to rob graves? Leave the dead alone."

The left defends the tax

In contrast, the left-wing formations have once again defended maintaining this tax, and the common argument they have used is that 70% of the population does not pay it or has to pay less than one euro. "What are you aiming for, to equate us to Ayuso's model?" asked the PSC deputy Susana Martínez. "It is an essential tax to guarantee equal opportunities," added the ERC parliamentarian Albert Salvadó.

The spokesperson for Comuns, David Cid, reminded Junts that when they shared government with ERC, they endorsed this tax and corrected the PP by reminding them that widows do not pay this tax in Catalonia because it is 99% subsidized: "It would be good for them to know what they are talking about." For the CUP, the deputy Laure Vega stated that she had calculated how much some of the Parliament deputies would pay in this tax and only those from right-wing parties would have to pay it.