Gortázar charges against the Government’s banking tax: “It could be called the CaixaBank rate”

CaixaBank raises the tone against the Government’s banking tax. In its quarterly presentation of results, the entity charged against the progressivity and double taxation of the tax approved by the Executive this week. As the entity most affected by the tax, its CEO, Gonzalo Gortázar, ironically: “You could call it the CaixaBank rate”.

On a day in which he presented profits of 4,248 million euros, 16.1% more than in the same period of the previous year, the leader was very critical of the imposition. In his opinion, it will affect both the competitiveness of Spanish banking and the country in general, as it will affect the credit that different financial entities can grant. Furthermore, it will undermine the capacity of its main shareholder, the La Caixa Foundationto carry out social work.

In his speech, Gortázar warned that the tax lacks the motivations that led to its initial implementation, with the war in Ukraine and inflation much higher than the current 1.8%. “It was limited to two years […] Now inflation is controlled and economic growth has not suffered. The tax stops making sense,” he lamented.

Despite celebrating the fact that imposing a specific tax on energy companies has finally been rejected, the leader did denounce the focus on banking, which feels discriminated against. “It is not a more profitable sector than others,” he assured. According to their calculations, the Ibex average is 18% compared to the 13% that, on average, the country’s entities have.

Gortázar too opened the melon of double taxation what the new type will mean and which, he added, his lawyers are already studying. “It is consolidating it, because it is clearly said that the tax will not be deductible from corporate tax. It is something very difficult for me to understand,” he denounced.

With a range of rates between 1% and 6%, the leader regretted that CaixaBank will be the biggest victim of the tax. “It could be called the CaixaBank rate,” he ironized. And, in the opinion of the manager, the progressiveness with which the tax has been designed does not make sense. “I am in favor of progressive taxation of people, but in legal entities it is something that escapes me,” he compared.

Being the leading Valencia-based bank in the country, it will be the most affected by the new tax. Mainly its shareholders. And that will mean fewer resources both for individual owners and, for example, the La Caixa Foundation

Although he declined to make calculations about the tax modification, he did remember that CaixaBank has paid 500 million of this tax this year.

But beyond the impact on the entity itself, Gortázar also pointed out that the Government’s decision will have an impact on the entire banking system and the Spanish economy. “It will discourage credit and we all know that if there is more credit the economy grows more,” he warned. “Where is it most logical, if we look five years from now, for credit to grow, if in Spain it is being penalized and in France, in England, in Latin America or in Italy, it is not? Where is it most logical for credit to grow “These are the laws of the market. We are discouraging credit in Spain,” he added.

With this ecosystem, it can be expected that when the cross-border bank mergers encouraged by the European Central Bank reach Spain, the headquarters of the new entities are moved outside the Iberian Peninsula. “When the time comes, no one can be surprised that the European banking sector in the long term will evolve so that the main centers of activity are not located in Spain,” he concluded.

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