CVF meeting held in Gasteiz last Monday. (Raul Bogajo | FOKU)
Last Monday, the Basque Fiscal Council (CVF) estimated that CAV tax collections would set a record this year. While PNV characterizes this data as “good news”, EH Bildou emphasizes that this increase is “fundamentally driven by workers’ incomes”, making it clear that the two parties maintain different priorities on fiscal issues.
On the other hand, the PP states that it is desirable for funds to be “in the hands of the people” and emphasizes its stance to continue reducing taxes, while the PSE focuses on assessing costs. He has advocated for “expanding the budget” to “strengthen public support.”
These statements were made this Saturday morning by representatives of Gasteiz’s parliamentary parties on Radio Euskadi’s talk show “Parliament on the Wave”, after the Basque Fiscal Council estimated last Monday that collections in 2025 will amount to 20.092 billion euros, an increase of 9.7% compared to 2024.
PNV continues to work on tax reduction
PNV spokesperson Joseba Diez Anchustegui considered this record “good news,” stressing that more money was raised than last year “without increasing the tax burden,” as it “creates more funds for public resources, education, health care, public transport and the fares of the trams that already participate in this rally.”
Mr. Anchustegui recalled that next year, “a tax overhaul will begin with expanded deductions, including lower taxes for young people who want access to housing and the middle class who are saving for retirement.” He made clear PNV’s commitment to continue reducing the tax burden through deductions.
Gerzare also pointed out that “Euskady is a dynamic country with an attractive economy for investment”, which is why it is “growing the economy without increasing taxes” and bringing in more revenue.
EH Bildu emphasizes commitment to a fairer tax system
Meanwhile, EH Bildou Member of Parliament Alcaits Rodríguez stressed that record collection is “fundamentally borne by workers’ incomes,” considering that the corporate tax burden has plummeted by nearly 20% while total collections have increased by 9.7%.
“What this suggests to us is a rather unfair fiscal model that puts most of the burden on the backs of workers and does not require shared responsibility for capital income,” he said, defending that tax reform will result in next year’s collections being “as little as possible” and concluding that “those who have the most will have to contribute more.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Rodríguez said Bildou “intends to facilitate” the approval of the Basque budget “as long as it seeks to align resources in the direction of providing solutions for our main priorities, the most important of them: housing.” He recalled that this was an “offer” that EH Bildu made last year and we intend to make again this year.
In this sense, he recalled, “PNV and PSE-EE need to decide whether they want to get their budget from EH Bildu or from the PP.”
PSE advocates huge budget
Euskadi Socialist Party lawmaker Pau Brasi said the levy was a result of “the positive outcome of the last tax reform” and attributed the “335 million savings that some people sold as levy reductions” to the abolition of the personal income tax “for the lowest income earners.”
In his speech, the Socialist lawmaker alluded to a “scenario of global uncertainty” and said that in Spain “the right is already a far-right playing with instability”, but that the Basque budget “needs to be expanded”.
“It doesn’t mean overspending or throwing the house out the window, but it also doesn’t mean being overly cautious in a growth scenario where revenues are increasing and the outlook for next month is good. That means being always cautious and alert, but not restrictive,” he asserted.
Blasi believes now is the time to be “brave, ambitious and consistently deliver on the commitments made in the Government Agreement” and “strengthen our people”.
PP defends continuation of tax cuts
Basque People’s Party MP Laura Garrido defended the move, saying that “money is in the pockets of the people, and they have less money”, arguing that income tax collections had “undoubtedly” increased “as a result of the tax reform”, as “tax rates for the middle and lower classes have been raised”. This is the exact opposite interpretation of PSE.
“In terms of value-added tax, it is clear that inflation is rising and tax rates are not falling,” he said, adding that this is “reducing consumption.” Regarding corporate taxes, he explained that he is “extremely concerned” about the reduction because “corporate flight is occurring.”
“The tax reforms of the Socialist Party led by the PNV and Podemos, as well as the policies implemented by the Pradales government, are both going in the opposite direction, encouraging the Basque productive sector,” he said, concluding by saying, “Money should be in the hands of the people and the government should not subsidize the people through social aid because there is not enough money.”
