MEZIESBLOG

Spain plans to raise taxes on holiday rentals so that they pay “like a business”.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced the plan today as residents of the country’s main cities grapple with soaring rents.

“It isn’t fair that those who have three, four or five
apartments as short-term rentals pay less tax than hotels or
workers,” said Mr Sanchez.

Holiday rentals are likely to have to pay VAT –  Spanish hotels currently pay a reduced 10% VAT rate.

Last month, authorities opened an investigation into Airbnb for failing to delete thousands of misleading rental offers from its platform.

Bumper run of economic updates this week to paint clearer picture of UK economy

Part of what made last week’s market turmoil worrying was there was nothing in particular they were responding to. 

There was no official economy announcement to explain the reaction. That’s to change this week. 

A bumper run of economic releases will paint a clearer picture of the UK’s financial system. Inflation data tells us today Wednesday how much prices have risen. 

Costly energy bills and rising wages mean economists expect the inflation rate will remain at 2.6%, above the Bank of England’s 2% target and at a level that could entrench the market expectation of only two interest rate cuts this year, far less than had been forecast. 

Economic growth figures in the form of Thursday’s GDP announcement are unlikely to show the government has met its target of having the highest growth in the G7 club of rich nations.

Instead, anaemic growth of 0.2% in November after a 0.1% contraction a month earlier is the current expectation. 

It won’t be good news for the Labour government, which has staked many of its investment plans on a growing economy.

Capping off the week on Friday is data on retail sales, measuring the largest expenditure in the economy during the most important time of the year for retailers, the run-up to Christmas.

This could be the bright spot of the week as analysts see growth of about 3.3% coming, far above the 0.5% level in October. 

Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Labour MPs and market observers will be anxiously watching on.