The National Court has provisionally suspended Naturgy’s debt resulting from the Corporate Tax settlements corresponding to the period 2011-2015, which amounts to 17 million euros. This has been agreed by the Litigation Chamber after presenting the gas company the guarantees provided by BBVA, according to resolution number 453/2023 consulted by La Información.
Naturgy Energy Group SA filed a contentious-administrative appeal against the resolution of the Central Economic Administrative Court (TEAC) dated September 22, 2022. The National Court has accepted the appeal and reason that when the debt is suspended and the Tax Administration remains private After the income of such amount, the company is required to present a security or guarantee sufficient to answer for the damages that are derived from the lack of income.
On the other hand, Naturgy is not charged with any kind of costs. The Chamber justifies it in this way with the new wording that section 1 of article 139 of the Law Regulating the Contentious-Administrative Jurisdiction has received with the entry into force of Law 37/11, of October 10, on measures to streamline proceedings. . “In the event, the Chamber considered that there was a reasonable doubt in order to assess the facts and, consequently, in relation to the meaning of the resolution that should be adopted in response to the request for precautionary measure, which is why, In accordance with the new prescriptions that in terms of costs have been established by the aforementioned Law 37/2011, no cost imposition is now carried out ”, indicates the resolution.
In October 2021, Naturgy, together with Banco Santander, Suez Spain and Cirsa and MRW, also filed a contentious-administrative appeal in the National Court against the order that approves the Corporate Tax and Income Tax models without residents. The five companies challenged Ministerial Order HAC/560/2021, of June 4, bequeathing its unconstitutionality. This standard approves the models of Corporation Tax and Non-Resident Income Tax corresponding to permanent establishments and entities under the income attribution regime constituted abroad with a presence in Spanish territory for the corresponding tax period.
energy tax
What the company chaired by Francisco Reynés has not yet made clear is whether it will appeal the energy tax, as Repsol, Iberdrola, Endesa and EDP have already done. Naturgy estimates that it will pay 150 million euros per year. The energy tax, with which the Executive expects to enter 2,000 million euros per year, taxes non-regulated income in Spain, with a rate of 1.2%. It is a temporary tax for two years -the results of 2022 and 2023 are taxed, to be paid in 2023 and 2024, respectively-, although the regulations themselves provide for the possibility of making them permanent.
The oil company directed by Josu Jon Imaz requested that precautionary measures be applied against the order of the Ministry of Finance to impose said tax measures on energy income, but the National Court has rejected the request. In the order, the Contentious Chamber considers that rejecting the suspension does not imply irreparable damage, since in the event that the appeal is finally upheld, it would be a perfectly reversible situation through the return of the amount paid with the payment of the mandatory interest ( making the necessary compensations). The decision was made known one day after the employers’ association of the large electric companies Aelec announced that it had filed a contentious-administrative appeal. The Spanish Confederation of Savings Banks (CECA) and the Spanish Banking Association (AEB) have also done the same.
Repsol has recorded the impact that the company will suffer from the tax at 450 million euros, while Iberdrola and Endesa calculate it at 200 and 300 million euros, respectively. Imaz has said that this tax is not compatible with the Spanish Constitution or with European regulations. For his part, the president of Iberdrola, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, has described it as “arbitrary” and does not expect the court ruling to take place until next year. Cepsa, which foresees a blow of 325 million, has not ruled on whether it will appeal or not.
With the presentation of 2022 results, the energies have bragged about the taxes they pay (after record profits). Iberdrola paid 7,500 million euros worldwide, of which 2,600 million corresponded to Spain, while Repsol reported more than 17,000 million euros, 70% in Spain (12,000 million). Cepsa’s total tax contribution stood at 6,654 million euros, a “record figure in the company’s history”, of which 71% (4,721 million euros) corresponded to taxes paid in the national territory. For its part, Endesa contributed 3,843 million (85% in Spain).
