MADRID (Reuters) – The leader of Spain’s leftist platform Sumar, Yolanda Diaz, said on Tuesday an agreement for a potential coalition government with the Socialist Party envisaged extending and reinforcing a windfall tax for banks and large energy companies.
She did not provide further details. Their potential coalition has yet to win the backing of other parties in parliament.
She also said the partners had agreed that all companies would be taxed an effective 15% rate on their accounting profit, rather than the underlying profit, which seeks to eliminate the impact of nonrecurring items. Companies currently pay between 23% and 25% on underlying profit.
The deal, which came after acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met with Sumar leader and acting Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz on Monday, also includes a proposal to reduce working hours while preserving the same pay.
Investors have been waiting since the inconclusive election in July to see if there would be any agreement for an extension of a two-year, 4.8% levy approved in December on banks’ net interest income and net commissions above 800 million euros ($880 million).
For energy companies with a turnover of at least 1 billion euros, excluding the domestic regulated business and foreign operations, the rate is 1.2%.
(Reporting by Belen Carreno, Emma Pinedo, Jesus Aguado, writing by Andrei Khalip)
