Spain’s Catalonia seeks own tax system

The Catalan government is seeking to set up its own tax system as the autonomous region prepares for a possible secession from Spain.

The government of Catalan President Artur Mas has enlisted a former Spanish tax inspector, Joan Iglesias, to prepare the administration to collect its own taxes.

Iglesias said on Friday that the Catalan tax authority could collect about €100 billion (USD113 billion) in taxes a year, more than the €65 billion (USD72 billion) needed for an independent Catalan state.

“Everyone knows that Catalonia would be viable economically,” Iglesias said, adding, “It is the most economically productive territory in Spain.”

According to reports, the Catalan tax authority currently collects only five percent of the total amount of taxes raised in the wealthy northeastern region of Spain.

The Catalan president recently established a commission tasked with supervising the creation of structures in a possible independent Catalonia.

Earlier this month, Roger Albinyana, Catalan government’s deputy minister for external affairs, announced the region’s willingness to open some 50 embassies across the globe to represent its interests.

In November last year, Catalonia held a symbolic vote on independence. More than 2.2 million people out of a total electorate of 5.4 million participated in the referendum, with over 80 percent of them voting in favor of Catalonia’s independence, according to regional officials.

The non-binding vote gave the regional president a mandate to negotiate independence with the Spanish administration.

Back in January, Mas called a snap regional vote for September 27 centered on independence.

This comes as prosecutors have filed a suit against the regional president for staging the vote.

Earlier this week, Spain’s Tribunal Constitucional in Madrid also unanimously declared as illegal the November’s vote on secession and any future referendums on Catalan independence.