The Constitutional Court is set to resolve a conflict between the Government and the Senate regarding inheritance and gift tax. The court of guarantees has admitted to processing the Executive’s challenge against the Senate Bureau’s agreement to process a bill that repeals the legislation related to the tax. This decision marks the first conflict between state institutions that the Constitutional Court will resolve in this legislature.
The Government relies on Article 134.6 of the Constitution in its challenge, which states that proposals or amendments leading to a decrease in budgetary income require the Government’s consent for processing. However, the Senate Board did not obtain this consent. Following a Council of Ministers meeting on December 19, the Minister of the Presidency and Justice warned that the Senate needed to halt the bill’s processing, which aimed to eliminate inheritance tax nationally. The Government argues that its consent is essential for any regulation resulting in a decrease in budgetary income as outlined in Article 134.6 of the Constitution.
The Ministry of Finance’s report indicated that eliminating tax would result in significant revenue losses, particularly for autonomous communities where it is transferred but not always applied. The State would need to compensate these communities using their last recorded collection before its elimination as a reference.
Despite objections from government officials, including warnings from ministers and reports from various agencies, the Senate decided to maintain bill processing, leading to formalization of an appeal by government officials.
The Constitutional Court will now hear arguments from both parties before making a ruling on whether or not it violates constitutional and Senate regulations on power budget veto.
This conflict highlights tensions between different branches of government over fiscal matters and raises questions about how these conflicts should be resolved within our political system.
