Mario Draghi said clearly on Thursday that Spain needs to lower taxes. elEconomista has corroborated his statement. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Cristóbal Montoro has implemented 30 tax hikes since Rajoy took office in December 2011.
Even with the highest base tax rates in southern Europe, Spain is taking in less tax revenue than Greece. It is critical to lower the personal income tax and manage with extreme caution all possible changes to the VAT in order to boost consumer spending.
Corporate taxes need to be better balanced between big companies and small- and medium-sized businesses. Montoro should add these changes when drafting the 2014 budged and not wait until a year before the next election to implement them -- after he has increased the nation's tax burden during the three years prior.
