After learning that the Government has decided to extend the current state of alarm by two more weeks until April 26, from CEOE and CEPYME we want to reiterate our support for the decisions of the health authorities, while Spanish businessmen are aligned with the need to safeguard the health and safety of citizens as a priority.
However, although we trust that this new term will serve to accelerate the exit from the current health crisis, at the same time it could deepen the economic recession in which many sectors and companies, especially SMEs and the self-employed, are already mired. of the drastic fall in the supply and demand of goods and services, by legal imposition due to sanitary reasons.
For this reason, CEOE and CEPYME urge the Government to quickly and effectively suspend the payment of taxes, in line with the demands that we have already expressed in another statement dated March 15.
What we ask is that the payment of taxes such as VAT, Personal Income Tax or Social Security contributions be suspended in those sectors and companies hardest hit by the decline in activity.
Business organizations offer our effort to detect, within the framework of social dialogue, which are the most vulnerable sectors and companies, to urgently apply this tax suspension that has already been adopted, on the other hand, by 22 European countries and up to 15 Autonomous Communities.
At least in Spain this demand is supported by two arguments, one technical and the other purely economic. On the one hand, it is not being possible to have the accounting and tax information of the broad business spectrum in order to comply with tax duties. As an example, 80% of SMEs make their declarations through external professionals who are located in places other than the company, and 50% of invoices are processed on paper, without forgetting that the payment at the physical window of financial institutions is still very frequent.
Therefore, it is no longer possible to request deferrals, since its processing would be in itself a new obstacle for many companies that are already on the verge of closing.
Extension of the guarantee section to 50,000 million
But more evident than this is that many companies and their workers are currently experiencing a distressing situation after weeks with little or no income, waiting for financing that is not flowing at the desired speed and, instead, promptly supporting the payment. of the corresponding taxes and insurance.
In this sense, the current context also requires continuing to streamline credit. For this reason, we ask that the lines of guarantees approved by the Government be extended from the initial 20,000 million to 50,000 million euros, to allocate this new section especially for SMEs and the self-employed.
Lastly, to continue safeguarding employment and achieve, as far as possible, that the fall in activity does not translate into higher levels of unemployment, we insist on making the processes of temporary employment regulation (ERTEs) more flexible and, taking into account Note that recovery will not be immediate, also that these requested conditions are maintained temporarily after the alarm state ends.
Once again, we place ourselves at the service of the Government to work on preparing a progressive solution to the crisis for all economic sectors, especially in areas as complex as the industrial one, and we reiterate our belief that Spanish companies are part of the solution.
