By Charlie Devereux
MADRID Spain's main opposition People's Party (PP), leading the polls ahead of this month's national election, would reform the tax system and cut taxes for lower-income earners if it comes to power, according to a manifesto published on Tuesday.
The centre-right party led by Alberto Nunez Feijoo said it would also seek to reintroduce the crime of sedition. That crime was abolished by the current Socialist-led government in what the PP saw as an attempt to win political support from Catalan separatists following a failed bid to split from Spain in 2017.
The PP has consistently led polls ahead of the snap July 23 election called by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on May 29 after his party and its far-left junior coalition partner Podemos performed poorly in regional and municipal ballots.
However, all polls have found the PP would need support from the far-right Vox to form a government.
Speaking at an event in Madrid to unveil his party's manifesto, Feijoo did not go into detail about his economic policy plans. He said he would seek to clip the wings of Basque and Catalan pro-independence parties.
His party would seek to simplify the personal income tax and corporate tax system that many businesses complain is too complicated.
A PP government would reduce income tax for workers earning 40,000 euros ($44,000)or less. The median annual salary in Spain in 2021 was 21,600 euros, according to the national statistics institute (INE).
The PP also pledged to scrap a recently-created wealth tax and would introduce tax incentives to attract entrepreneurs to Spain. It pledges to reduce value added tax (VAT) on meat and fish to help fight inflation.
It would also create a department to boost industry as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) to 20%. Industry represented 16% of GDP in 2022, according to INE.
Elsewhere, the PP said it would revoke a law that prohibits discretionary appointments of judges in a bid to ease delays in the courts.
($1 = 0.9179 euros)
(Reporting by Charlie Devereux Additional reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Mark Potter)