Tax agency expansion prepares Catalonia for independence, says president

The deployment of the Catalan Tax Agency (ATC), which assumed new tax collection responsibilities last Friday and opened 27 new offices throughout Catalonia on Monday, serves as a proof that Catalonia is ready to act on the results of the independence referendum to be held on October 1, Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, said on Monday.

Taking on the responsibility for collecting taxes, such as inheritance and donation taxes, is a step further towards handling all of the taxes which Catalonia is currently authorized to collect, according to Spanish law. It is no secret either that the current ATC is setting the foundation for a potential tax agency of an independent state.

“It is clear that we are putting in place the structures needed in order to be ready to undertake the will expressed by the Catalan people,” Puigdemont said, stressing that all steps are being taken with respect to legal and technical security. “Whatever [the people’s decision] is, we are saying that we are ready.”

From now on, the ATC will also collect taxes from all the companies owned by the Catalan government, including some 170 public firms. New responsibilities also include collecting outstanding taxes and payments. Once the taxes are collected, the ATC will send the funds to the Spanish tax authorities.

Yet, as Spanish and Catalan governments are set to clash over the October 1 independence referendum, the €4,5 billion that is currently transferred yearly (in the form of personal income tax, VAT, and social security payments from public firms) that will be managed by the ATC could become a valuable asset in the hands of the Catalan government.

Given the way it’s been implemented, the ATC is ready to collect and manage an even larger quantity of tax receipts, according to the Catalan vice president, Oriol Junqueras.

“The ATC is ready to become the centerpiece of our fiscal system,” Junqueras said. “It is designed to serve taxpayers and to be at the level of the most advanced EU and world agencies: agile and effective, and with a special unit to fight against international tax evasion.”

Disconnection laws
On July 28, the Catalan Parliament passed the tax code law upon which the tax agency is created. It was approved with votes from the pro-independence ruling coalition Together for Yes (JxS) and its main partner, the anti-capitalist CUP. All other opposition parties voted against the law.

The tax code law has been regarded as one of the so-called “disconnection laws,” which is to set the groundwork for an independent Catalonia. Catalonia’s Council of Statutory Guarantees (CGE in Catalan) ruled out some of the articles of the tax code law, and they were not included in the version of the text passed by the Catalan Parliament.

The implementation of the ATC has been widely criticized by parties opposed to Catalan independence. “Who thinks that a tax agency or a social security administration can be created unilaterally?” the opposition leader, Inés Arrimadas, asked in an interview with ACN.