Acceso usuarios
Vigo, España
Santiago de Compostela, España
The social economy (SE) is becoming increasingly present in the Spanish business network. Its specialcharacteristics make it attractive for the development of economic activities, since they are respectful ofthe environment and they promote the creation of stable and quality employment, even in economicallydegraded areas or for groups with labour market integration problems. These characteristics, moreover,are particularly important for the consolidation of a new business network that combines economicgrowth and sustainability, in the context of the commitments undertaken in the 2030 Agenda for theSustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Cooperatives are the most common SE business model, to the extent that their study comprises animportant part of the Spanish economy. The peculiarities of this legal formula, the aids for its consti-tution and their tax benefits provide important incentives for the constitution of such entities. The aimof this paper is to study the fiscal framework of cooperatives in Spain within the European framework,to determine the extent to which it favours the development of this business model and to identify thebases for improvement that can foster this entrepreneurial model. The analysis of the fiscal data avail-able confirms that the tax advantages for cooperatives, as well as the need to update fiscal policies to thecurrent economic context, have diluted over time. Finally, the need to extend to cooperatives some ofthe tax benefits designed for other business models is pointed out.
