Garzón rejects lowering VAT on food as requested by the PP and defends that supermarkets should moderate prices

MADRID, 30 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Minister of Consumption, Alberto Garzón, has rejected the PP's proposal to lower VAT on basic foods because that formula, in his opinion, has "very short legs" given that most of these products already have a super-reduced rate and almost "there is no capacity to improve the situation there".

In this way, the cost for the citizen would only be reduced by a few cents and, at the same time, it reduces income for public services, he argued in statements to TVE, collected by Europa Press.

In contrast, Garzón has defended the path of proposing to the large distribution companies that they "moderate" the prices of the basic shopping basket because they have room to do so, based on the profits they record and to maintain consumption levels of the families.

In this way, the also leader of IU has broken down that part of these companies have decided to follow that strategy while others reject it, but from "implausible" arguments because some have recorded profits of 600 million euros and have distributed dividends worth 150 millions.

On the other hand, he has assured that the tax on large fortunes responds to the economic context of crisis and not as a reaction to the tendency of the PP autonomies to lower the Wealth Tax, although he has also recognized that this drift is a "further argument " to approve it.

"It is evident that certain communities were challenging that philosophy, which is fundamental to democracy, promoting fiscal competition to lower taxes on the rich. The rich came out on top and public services deteriorated," he said.

In line, he has insisted that this new tribute is part of a project that United We Can have been defending for a long time, which finds a context of economic crisis and as a reaction to it there is a "right that bets, against the rest of the right European Union, for continuing to bring down the rich". "It is not an answer, but it is one more argument that supports and justifies the need to support the constitutional mandates", he has reasoned about the germ of this tax.

The IU federal coordinator has indicated that he does not know if this tax will end up being permanent or only temporary, although he admits that he likes a structural model where the rich "have to pay more and more taxes" to finance health, education, pensions and other social benefits, which cannot fall only on the working classes.

Therefore, Garzón has argued that the new fiscal package agreed upon within the Government seeks to "mitigate" inequality through taxes and protect the most disadvantaged classes.

Moreover, he pointed out that the new tax on large fortunes not only has an "ethical" and "moral" component, but also a macroeconomic sense by following the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB). "It is an imposed solidarity because that is how democracy works," she stressed.