The Third Sector Platform encourages alliances with the business sector through the Supportive Company Checkbox (in Spanish, Casilla Empresa Solidaria)

The meeting was held with the aim of laying the foundations for a fairer and more egalitarian system, with a commitment to a new model of interrelationship with social value as the main lever for change. During the event, the Supportive Company Checkbox 2022 campaign was presented. Companies are given the opportunity of ticking this checkbox on the Corporate Income Tax (the filing period is open until 25 July) and it is currently available in two Corporate Income Tax Forms: 200 and 220. By ticking this box, 0.7% of the taxes collected will be allocated to projects of social interest.

This morning, the Third Sector Platform held the meeting “The impact of companies on fair social transformation”, which brought together leading personalities from the social and business fields with great success. An event in which the Supportive Company Checkbox was presented with an enriching dialogue between the Third Sector, companies, and business organisations.

The event, which was held in the CEOE auditorium, highlighted the importance of weaving a network of alliances between the business world and the Third Sector with the common goal of building a fairer and more egalitarian society, with a commitment to a new model of interrelationship with social value as the main lever for change.

Fátima Báñez, president of the CEOE Foundation, Patricia Bezunartea, director general of Family Diversity and Social Services of the Ministry of Social Rights and Agenda 2030 and Luciano Poyato, president of the Third Sector Platform, opened the event by emphasising the transformative capacity of companies when faced with the common challenges of the future and the Supportive Company Checkbox as a meeting point between the different actors.

“We never get tired of repeating that ticking the Supportive Company Checkbox is a zero-cost gesture, but one that has a very positive impact. And it is true. It is a pragmatic, efficient and effective action with a transformative capacity. However, as you know, and this is why we are here today, theSupportive Company Checkbox is also a catalyst for broader and deeper actions. Our aim is also to encourage alliances between the different actors in society, especially between companies and Third Sector organisations”, said Luciano Poyato, president of the Third Sector Platform (PTS), the driving force behind this measure.

Meanwhile, the President of the CEOE Foundation stressed that today’s event is “a tremendous alliance to show solidarity”, because ticking the Supportive Company Checkbox “multiplies social commitment across the country, in all economic sectors and in all companies, regardless of their size”. According to Fátima Báñez, “the CEOE Foundation channels the commitment of all Spanish companies to society”, because “companies are essential allies for the private sector to be able to reach the farthest corners of Spain with important social projects and with more hope”.

Furthermore, Patricia Bezunartea pointed out that “this checkbox was created four years ago and has become a good indicator of a growing commitment on the part of companies. We need to intensify the means of promotion and make an effort to explain this simple gesture so that companies get involved and put their corporate social responsibility into practice to improve the wellbeing of the community”. 

Business organisations were represented at the meeting by Álvaro Ramos-Catalina, Director of Corporate Development of CEPYME, Alfonso Megino, Deputy Secretary General of CEAJE and Celia Ferrero, Executive Vice-President of ATA, who at the round table highlighted the opportunity for companies to get involved in egalitarian and inclusive social reconstruction, which benefits both the business ecosystem and society itself, to build a better world and promote the achievement of the SDGs. 

Supportive Company Checkbox, the collaboration principle

In addition, during the last part of the event, examples of good practices of collaboration and alliances between companies and social entities were shared. The event was attended by María Ángeles García, Coordinator of Relations with Donors and Institutions at Cáritas, as well as Marta Colomina, Director General of the PwC Foundation and Director of Marketing and CSR at PwC Spain; Leopoldo Pérez, Secretary General of the Red Cross, and Cristina del Campo, Director of Communication and CSR at Pelayo and Manager of the Pelayo Foundation; and Rafael de Lorenzo, Secretary General of ONCE and Salvador Lorenzo, Manager of Diversity in the Talent, Culture and Transformation Department at Repsol. 

The event was also supported by ambassadors of the Supportive Company Checkbox such as Fernando Riaño, Director of CSR, Sustainability, and Institutional Relations of the ONCE Social Group, Luis Martín, CEO of CE Consulting, and Borja Echegaray, Director of the CEOE Foundation. They were joined by representatives of companies and Third Sector organisations. 

Becoming a #EmpresaConImpacto (in English, #CompanyWithImpact)

Marking the Supportive Company Checkbox in the Corporate Tax is a free and altruistic decision, with zero cost for companies, through which companies have the opportunity to get directly involved in the egalitarian and inclusive social reconstruction. This benefits both the business sector and society as a whole, since 0.7% of the tax collection is allocated to social, cooperation and environmental projects developed by entities of the Third Sector, which are aimed at guaranteeing citizens’ rights, the fight against poverty, social exclusion and inequality. If all companies ticked this box, 186 million euros would be collected.

With this zero-cost decision, the business sector also has the opportunity to generate social value and a reputation, as it represents a real contribution at a time when citizens are demanding companies to take action with a direct impact. 

The Supportive Company Checkboxcan be ticked during the corporate income tax filing period, which runs until July 25, and is currently available in two Corporate Income Tax forms: 200 and 220. It is included in the section ‘other types – social purposes’, specifically in box 00073 (in form 200) or 069 (in form 220).

About the Third Sector Platform
The Third Sector Platform(PTS for its Spanish acronym) is a nationwide organisation set up to unite and amplify the voice of the Third Sector in Spain. It defends, through a united voice, the rights and social interests of citizens, especially those living in poverty or at risk of exclusion.

Founded in January 2012, it is made up of nine of the most representative organisations in the social sector in Spain: the Platform of Social Action NGOs (POAS), the Platform of Volunteering in Spain (PVE), the European Network to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion in Spain (EAPN-ES), the Spanish Committee of Representatives of People with Disabilities (CERMI), the Spanish Red Cross, Caritas Spain, the Spanish National Organisation of the Blind (ONCE), the Coordinator of Development Cooperation Organisations and the Children’s Platform. It also includes eleven platforms and territorial committees. It currently represents around 28,000 entities in the social field.

The Third Sector Platform is the driving force behind the inclusion of the Supportive Company Checkbox in the Corporate Income Tax, present since the 2018 tax period. Companies that tick the Supportive Company Checkbox on their Income Tax filing, an optional, zero-cost, and altruistic gesture, will be allocating 0.7% of the tax collection to finance projects of social interest managed by the Third Sector. 

The contribution of the Third Sector to the Spanish economy represents 1.41% of the national GDP and 3.3% of employment, in addition to having more than 2.7 million volunteers, and providing 46.2 million direct services in 2021.