From October 2 to November 24, 2.773 companies have transferred their headquarters (HQ) from Catalonia to other regions in Spain, according to figures from the College of Mercantile Registers in Spain.
107 companies move to Catalonia
A total of 107 companies from outside Catalonia have transferred their HQs to the region since the independence referendum on October 1, despite the fact that no company moved to Catalonia from another autonomous region.
Thus there are still 26 firms which decided to relocate their HQ to the Catalan autonomous region so far this month.
Since October 2, a total of 90 companies from outside Catalonia have installed their HQ in Barcelona and three in Gerona, while only two transferred their HQ to the province of Lérida. And finally, 12 firms installed their HQ in Tarragona over this period.
The College of Mercantile Registers publishes on a daily basis the names of scores of companies sector-wide which are moving their HQ to other regions, mainly Madrid.
Changing their tax residence as well
The flight of companies from Catalonia has not just been limited to moving their HQ. Since October 1, almost 1.000 firms have also changed their tax residence from Catalonia to other autonomous regions, according to figures released this Tuesday by the Tax Office.
The change in tax residency does not affect the main taxes which companies pay, VAT and corpororate tax, because these are state taxes.
The Tax Office has also analysed the trend in revenues of companies which have their tax residence in Catalonia.
In the first half of October, companies with tax residence in Catalonia accumulated on average 22.4% of total national revenues, a figure which declined almost 3 percentage points to 19.6% in the second half of last month.
The Tax Office highlights that those companies with their tax residence in Catalonia, in sectors like energy, water or construction have reduced their share of national sales by almost 20 points. And financial and insurance companies’ share has fallen by four points.
When the first lot of companies started to leave Catalonia, ex-deputy president of the Generalitat, Oriol Junqueras, now in prison, said their decision was a “temporary” one. But it now looks as if their departure is irreversible, or at least indefinite. For example, Banco Sabadell made it very clear that it was moving to Alicante to stay. The bank’s chairman, Josep Oliú, explained that “Banco Sabadell’s decision to move its HQ has no sell by date.”
And in the opinion of many experts, moving a company’s tax residency always ends up taking part of its operations with it.