Cristóbal Montoro has assured this way in the Congress in response to a question from the Socialist deputy Soraya Rodríguez. Who has asked him if he intends to rectify his proposal to apply 21 percent of VAT to the legal aid service.
The head of the Treasury has said that "beneficiaries of legal aid are not going to pay VAT or pay for any other concept."
"This is the essence of free justice, that those who benefit from it do not run with the expenses that are generated but does the competent Administration or the Ministry of Justice in the case of autonomous communities that do not have transferred the powers In this matter or the communities that do have them, "he insisted.
He recalled that "there is a ruling of the High Court of Justice of the European Union (EU) that is interpreted by the Directorate General of Taxes in the sense that it is applicable to Spain and that it will be the public administrations that subsidize the services Of legal assistance and which are responsible for paying VAT ".
He maintained that "therefore neither the beneficiaries nor the beneficiaries, which would be a contradiction, nor the professionals of the justice who are in charge of applying it."
Montoro explained that the judgments of the EU High Court of Justice feel jurisprudence and must be subject to it but has stressed that 21 percent of VAT "will be paid by the Administration, autonomous communities and the Ministry of Justice, and So that does not detract from the salaries of professionals. "
In any case, he has offered to the socialist group to work together with the Ministry of Justice "on clarification and adequacy in compliance with EU directive regulations".
Clear interpretation
Soraya Rodríguez recalled that "for more than thirty years the free legal service has lived with VAT and with a very clear interpretation, which is a service rendered mandatory by lawyers and is not subject to any kind of compensation and for Thus exempt from VAT. "
"This clear interpretation has been changed by the General Directorate of Taxes in a radical way and now they say that free legality is voluntary for professionals and also onerous."
The PSOE parliamentarian has pointed out that "there is a judgment of the European Court that affects Belgium that has a legal basis clearly different from the Spanish system."
"With a twisting interpretation can not change the legal nature of our system in which it is the professional colleges that have the obligation to continuously ensure the provision of this service but do so through lawyers and attorneys," warned Soraya Rodríguez.
It has abounded in that "its voluntary ascription to a shift of office does not relieve of the obligation of all the collegiate to provide this service".
He also stated that "when the legal aid service is provided, the client is not chosen and the price is not charged, but rather it is operated under the public law regime and the State is giving a subsidy ".
Source: Digital Newspaper ABC
