On Monday, the President of the Catalan Government, Carles Puigdemont, and the Vice-president and Minister of the Economy and Finance, Oriol Junqueras, presented the Catalan Tax Agency as a “fundamental state structure” that will ensure the Generalitat is prepared for whatever the Catalan people decide on October 1.

 

“We are saying that we’re prepared and that this is the best guarantee to work as a normal country”, Puigdemont explained in a joint press conference with the Vice-president and the Secretary of the Treasury, Josep Lluís Salvadó, following the unveiling of the nationwide agency.

 

The Agency's deployment was completed ahead of schedule, which the Catalan president attributed to the government's firm commitment to making the Catalan administration “closer and fairer”, while it fights against fraud “more efficiently” than the current state model.

 

“Today we have presented the Catalan tax agency, but we are committed to economic collaboration with the whole of Spain. We will not turn our back on Spain”, he assured.

 

On his part, Vice-president Junqueras explained that the Agency has the potential to collect 42 billion euros, 15 times greater than the actual revenue for 2017. “This certifies us as an agency comparable to the best” in Europe and “makes us more efficient in the fight against fiscal fraud”, he affirmed. Adding that this year, the Catalan Tax Agency has raised over 400 million from fraudulent claims.

 

“We like the responsibility, we love it, and we want to exercise all of it, not just in the area of spending, but also in terms of collecting revenue”, the Vice-president continued. According to Junqueras, the Agency will “adapt itself to the challenges the future brings”, and have as one of its main objectives “the rating we deserve”, “which comes directly from of the relationship between the management of our budget and our tax collection, without being conditioned by other factors”, he added.