Petrol in the Balearics to be the dearest in Spain due to “health tax”

The so-called “health tax” which has been designed to support the public health service at a time of deep budget cuts, is going to be collected by means of putting up the price of petrol at the start of next month. The move, says EU, will mean that the price of petrol for consumers in the Balearics will be the most expensive in Spain.

The EU has described the introduction of the tax through Parliamentary legislation as “abusive.” A spokesman for the party said yesterday that the imposition of the tax was undemocratic and that the problems posed to regional society by sweeping budget cuts were not going to be solved by hard working people being forced to pay yet more out of their salaries. “Electoral fraud” The EU claim that “the ruling Partido Popular (PP) are guilty of a major electoral fraud because they gave assurances at the time of the electorate going to vote in May 2011 that taxes would not be put up.” Earlier this week, with a majority vote by the PP in Parliament, the law was passed not just to put up the price of petrol, but also to impose new fines on vehicles which polluted the atmosphere and to increase tax on the transfer of goods and property from 300'000 euros upwards.

The United Left believes that the taxation system, not just at a regional level but also nationally needs to undergo a radical overhaul to tackle record levels of fraud. Taxation should be heaviest on practices such as property speculation, says the party, and more lenient on people carrying out productive work.