15/05/2023

Sánchez Huete: “Taxation must respond to the needs of people and not to mere economic benefit”

Miguel Ángel Sánchez Huete, professor at the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Tax Law expert and PhD from UIC Barcelona, participated as a speaker at the Molins Chair Social Breakfast on May 8. Sánchez Huete addressed different aspects of taxation in relation to family policies
 

In the session, Sánchez Huete spoke on the tax impact on the family, the family unit and income tax (IRPF), benefits for working women with dependent children, support in reconciliation of family life and corporate tax. In the case of childcare aid, the speaker also pointed out the relationship between VAT and care-related activities, the case of single-parent families and the case of large families.

The UAB professor presented the need to “review the economic impact of income and expenses from an ethical perspective that takes into account people rights, not just the amount of collected revenue.” He also said, “we can’t lose sight of the fact that tax must always be an instrument leading to equity and solidarity. In this line, he continued, “it should be noted that preparing preliminary reports on the impact on family, childhood and adolescence in budget laws is quite useful.”

During his speech, the Chair’s guest commented on the need to consider the VAT on some products “not just on intimate feminine hygiene products, as has been recently put forth,” he said, “in order to control the prices of care-, education- and health-related services and avoid a drastic loss of family purchasing power.” Finally, and regarding the family unit, he mentioned the current family law under legislative consideration and that it must ensure, in a special way, that the needs of single-parent families and large families are addressed and met.

These breakfasts are regularly organised by the UIC Barcelona Institute of Advanced Family Studies (IESF), through its Childcare and Family Policies Chair, which is supported by the Molins Figueras Foundation. On this occasion, Montserrat Gas, director of the IESF and vice-dean of the Faculty of Law; Enric Vidal and Marc Grau, dean and vice-dean of the Faculty of Education Sciences, respectively; Belén Zarate, lecturer in the Faculty of Law and IESF researcher; and Consuelo León, director of the Observatory of Family Policies Observatory and head of the Equality and Inclusion Unit at UIC Barcelona.

Professor Sanchez Huete is currently associate professor of Financial and Tax Law at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. In his different research lines, we highlight his studies on tax risk prevention and the role of taxation in the face of new economic phenomena such as social responsibility or the collaborative economy. He holds an undergraduate degree from the Universitat de Barcelona and obtained his doctoral degree from the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya in 2001. Among his research lines, we can highlight the relationship between taxation and sex differences, the tax impact on the family, childhood and adolescence, the ethical aspects of taxation and artificial intelligence in its application to tax proceedings. He also is part of the “Women and Rights” research group at UAB.