Ángel Asensio demands lower tax pressure and fewer bureaucratic obstacles

The president of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services of Madrid, Ángel Asensio, This Tuesday he demanded a lower tax pressure, better financing conditions and fewer bureaucratic obstacles for companies, particularly SMEs during the inauguration of the 2023-2024 course of the Nueva Economía Fórum, where he starred in an informative breakfast in which he was presented by the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.

The president of the Community of Madrid highlighted the role of the Chamber when it comes to help more than 500,000 companies in the region and has guaranteed that the Government he leads will defend an economic model that offers confidence to companies that want to invest and that additional taxes will not arise “in a capricious and arbitrary manner.”

“In the Community of Madrid we are committed to freedom, legal security, the best public services and public-private collaboration to continue being the economic engine of Spain and always at your service,” says Díaz Ayuso.

The president of the Madrid Chamber explained what the concerns and priorities are for the business community. Thus, he remembered that the Chamber of Spain has identified 170 business priorities to promote a framework of growth, transformation and job creation. “Regarding the most urgent reforms, from the Chamber of Spain we identify two: the reduction of the tax pressure on companies and the improvement of financing, particularly from SMEs“, to which he added the need for less bureaucracy.

Asensio argues his claim that, “in the fiscal field, according to Eurostat data, the proportion of revenue that comes from companies in Spain is considerably higher than the European average: 32.5% versus 23.9%. Social contributions are above the European average and that of OECD countries; being in Spain 28.3% of the gross salary, compared to 21.9% of the EU average and 16.3% of the rest of the OECD countries.” Among other measures, it proposes “the reduction of social contributions and corporate tax reformwith the establishment of a single and lower rate, and a more simplified tax benefit scheme in line with the challenges posed by the ecological transition and digital transformation.”

On the other hand, “in terms of improving financing, the survey on companies’ access to financing from the European Central Bank (ECB), from December 2022, reflects that we are in the toughest moment regarding the conditions related to the price of bank loans since the survey began to be published in 2009“In his opinion, among the necessary measures, it is worth highlighting the improvement of public guarantee and endorsement instruments, as well as continuing to promote alternative non-bank financing mechanisms.

During the conference, Asensio highlighted the Community of Madrid as a favorable ecosystem for business development, since “has been the first to recover pre-pandemic growth levels by creating an ecosystem that favors entrepreneurship with lower tax pressure, less bureaucracy and fewer obstacles; capable of attracting investments and facilitating business settlement in the community, and is favoring the single market in Spain through the Omnibus Law”.

Main challenges

Ángel Asensio highlighted the role of the Madrid Chamber of Commerce, an organization committed to the Madrid business community that has been supporting Madrid companies for more than 130 years, and highlighted the services it offers (internationalization, training, entrepreneurship, innovation and legal advice ) to Madrid businessmen and has shared some of the most notable figures and achievements of the chamber entity.

“Our main objective is to help companies in Madrid -about 500,000 are part of the Chamber-, and especially to SMEs, to improve their competitiveness and their position in the market, through different services and activities offered in various areas, and support the economic development of the Chamber. community. We annually advise more than 5,000 entrepreneurs and 10,000 companies in the process of creation, consolidation and growth; We provide solutions to more than 15,000 companies a year in business development and legal advice, mediation and arbitration; “We promote innovation and digitalization, as demonstrated by the more than 3,000 companies advised annually, and throughout the year, more than 4,000 people participate in our different forums and meetings to promote commercial exchange and collaboration between different economic actors.”

In terms of training“we have more than 30 years of experience backed by 6,000 students per year”, and announced that, in this month of September, the Madrid Chamber is launching, together with Metrodora, a large health vocational training center with the capacity to train 800 students per year. anus.

Regarding international work, Asensio highlighted that the Chamber has 50 years promoting the internationalization of companies“we have 6,100 clients in this area and we advise more than 1,800 companies each year on internationalization, facilitating their access to new markets and promoting the Madrid brand abroad through trade missions, international fairs and networking programs, and the generation of strategic alliances with international partners”.

Likewise, the president of the chamber entity considers that the main challenges that companies have to face are digital transformation and innovation, sustainable growth, organic and inorganic growth, training and talent, and providing greater added value to products and services, and “these are the issues in which the Madrid Chamber will focus his efforts.”