The independent CIBE party of Benissa is calling for the government in Madrid to rethink the rules because of the “unsettling effect” it is having on non-Spanish residents.
And although the meeting will be after the 30th April reporting deadline, the initiative has been welcomed by the Valencia-based protest group Concerned European Citizens.
A spokesman for the group said: “It is an effort that could and should be replicated to good effect in other towns on the Mediterranean coast and inland where there are large percentages in the local population of non-Spanish, especially EU residents.
“It might encourage other local politicians to present similar motions to their town councils. Benissa may be more vulnerable to a sudden egress of non-Spanish residents. According to a recent report published by the Spanish National Institute for Statistics, Benissa already has the fourth highest percentage, 44%, of empty houses in all of Spain.”
He said Alvaro Mendoza, leader of CIBE, was a lawyer dealing with non-Spanish residents who could testify to the “anxiety” of many expats being compelled to provide sensitive personal information with no guarantees the data would be protected against misuse or unauthorised disclosure.
Under the declaration rules, Spanish nationals and expats who are tax residents in Spain must disclose assets of more than 50,000€ - or face prohibitive penalties.
PETITION
The Concerned European Residents group has already sent a petition to Brussels alleging the declaration broke EU laws and discriminated against non-Spanish residents.
The group is also fearful of a ‘tax grab’ in the future under a law that is designed to clamp down on money flowing out of Spain and concerns of tax evasion and money laundering.
And the protest has won the backing of the powerful and influential European Citizen Action Service in Brussels, which has submitted its own complaint to the European Commission over the “failure to comply with EU law by the Kingdom of Spain”.
It is signed by ECAS’s legal supervisor Anthony Valcke, as is a similar petition to the European Parliament.
Concerned European Citizens says it is grateful for the “well-founded” ECAS interventions and for its “understanding and assistance”.
The spokesman added: “What is key is that this gets to the Finance minister in Madrid without delay if there is any hope of his introducing a degree of flexibility for those who stand to suffer from the asset declaration process and what may follow.”
He believes many Spanish citizens “as before” simply ignore their government’s demands. “It is the expat community which is in peril now.”
Source:
RTN