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ARCHIVED - Price hike: fridges, freezers and air-conditioners to cost 10 per cent more in Spain from next month
The tax will affect everyone in the supply chain and the cost will be passed onto consumers across Spain
At a time when the only way prices seem to be going is up, up, up, there’s more bad news for consumers, as a change to the law that was ‘slipped’ through means that air-conditioning units, freezers and refrigeration equipment in general will be up to 10% more expensive from Thursday September 1.
Essentially, back in July the Congress of Deputies quietly approved a reform of the tax on fluorinated gases; this charge is nothing new, but up to now it was only paid by those who directly sold affected products to the final customer. However, the new change means that everyone along the supply chain, from manufacturers to supermarkets and installers, will be taxed, and this additional charge will be passed onto the consumer.
Aside from the obvious appliance stores, sectors such as the automotive industry, hotels and the food and beverage industry will all feel the pinch from the new tax, according to Idealista, which the Association of Refrigeration and Technology Companies (AETYT) estimates will increase the price of refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment by between 5% and 10%.
As many as 20 business associations have already appealed against the legislation, arguing that the tax “will affect different sectors of the economy, but also households and small businesses”.
The move will undoubtedly be another source of stress for business owners who are in their second week of having to maintain the air-conditioning at no lower than 27ºC (25ºC in certain cases), right at the tail-end of yet another Spanish heatwave.
Furthermore, those opposed to the measure maintain that the extra charge “does not fulfil its own purpose in its design, since the gases for which it is taxed are irreplaceable from a technology point of view, and therefore, directly imply a tax on the sector’s activity.”
Image: Pixabay
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