Spanish views from a small town

These days, being a tax cheat is in the news a lot. In general, in the United States, it's not seen as a good thing. Oh, many people might fudge a figure or two, but anything beyond that, and it's just not the done thing. It angers people. Someone with a lot of money that hides things so they pay less than someone working two jobs just to make ends meet, brings out the Dr. Hyde in a lot of people. In Spain, it also brings out the monster, but, instead of denouncing the rich tax cheat, it incentivizes regular people to cheat, themselves. If Amancio Ortega can get away with paying very few, taxes, then I'll find a way to do so, too, whatever the law says.  Now that declared incomes are well known to the tax office, the only way to do so is to acquire irregular income. Many people do that by working odd hours on the weekends, clandestinely. They neither declare that income, nor does the person who hires them pay value added tax. No, there's no way to claim damages if the t...

Taxes. They are so hated and feared, that they were incorporated into the saying, "The only certainties in life are death and taxes." Lately we have been hearing on the news, even here in Spain, on how the Republicans in the United States are revamping the tax code to give more money to themselves and their friends, while the rest of the population can starve to death, for all they care. It seems the Spanish code is also similarly constructed. While deductions are almost non-existent for the earner of the lowest incomes, it seems we have to declare every centime that comes into every household, even the winnings of small Christmas sweepstakes. I'm not against paying taxes in return for services, but sometimes what is considered taxable income is ridiculous. It's a Christmas tradition in Spain for small associations, bars, companies, etc., to organize a Christmas sweepstakes. For the price of a raffle, you opt for a prize mostly of food: cured ham, wines, liquors, ma...

This week, the Congreso petitioned the lame duck government that it abolish the tax on the sun, and create a renewable energy policy similar to that of other European countries. Of course, since a new government still hasn't been formed since the elections in December, and new elections will probably be held in June, I think the government is going to bide its time and do nothing, hoping to get re-elected in June. We're dumb enough to re-elect them, too. Back in the years of President Zapatero, and his efforts to avoid a full economic crash in Spain, renewable energies were subsidied, and all new construction was required to install solar panels. Many home owners also installed solar panels, taking advantage of the subsidies and the savings in the electricity bill. When the conservative PP came into power things changed. The traditional energy companies complained and got a sympathetic ear in the government. The Minster of Industry, Mr. Soria (who has stepped down today afte...

Taxes are a necessary evil. No one likes to pay. But we all like quality public education, decent roads and highways, unemployment benefits, old-age pensions, subsidies, and public hospitals and clinics where we get a fighting chance to recuperate our health. In a perfect world, those who earn the most should pay the most, even if they don't need some of these services. Because those at the top of the world can sometimes fall to its depths and find themselves in need. One would think that would be an incentive to pay more taxes for more earnings.  But this is anything but a perfect world. The more money some people have, the less they want to pay for services that, in their opinion, only freeloaders demand. So tax havens are created, and money squirreled away that no one but its owner will ever benefit from. The Spanish financially elite have always had a "let them eat cake" attitude toward the rest of the population. And so the Spanish people have been regaled to a par...

Fifty-six percent of my electric bill is made up of taxes and other charges. The rest is a result of turning on the lights and taking the liberty of having a computer, a refrigerator, a television, a radio-alarm, and running water. And occasionally plugging in a microwave, coffee pot, hair dryer, or using the oven. And one or two electric stoves to warm up a room in winter. I have nothing else, no washer, dryer, stove top, kitchen extractor, water heater, heating system, dishwasher, or other appliances that could make it expensive to live with a little less work. But every two months I get a bill that makes me desire to pull out the electric meter from the wall and remove myself from the modern world. For Spanish households the light bill has gone up 52 percent between 2008 and 2014. And it wasn't someone with a pony tail who is looking to become the next Prime Minister in December who proclaimed that. The study was made by the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. And, according ...