Despite the fact that the Minister of Finance, José Antonio Ocampo, has been giving way on some points of the tax reform, such as the of the tax on dividends and occasional profits, there are others in which there is still no agreement for the paper for the first debate of the project.
(Read: ACM: tax would affect investments in the mining sector).
This is the case of the tax on single-use plastics, which would be levied on each gram that is used to package, pack or package goods for a single time, with which would affect the food in the basic basket.
“The tax will translate into an increase in the prices of these products, in addition to the tax on sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods.”assured Daniel Mitchell, president of Acoplásticos.
With this, according to the guild, it would affect up to 79 percent of food and beverages included in the basic family basket of Colombians. However, there are some products that will rise in price more than others.
Those that have a higher percentage of plastic in their packaging, as is the case with detergents, packaged drinks, shampoos or toothpastesamong others, will be the most affected.
For example, the price of a liquid detergent could go up to 3.70 percent, that of a packaged water 2.60 percent and that of toothpaste another 2.20 percent. This is because they have a greater share of plastic packaging in their production.
The guild puts the real example of a 500 ml bottle of water that hoy has a price of 1,000 pesos and that its container has a weight of 9.70 gr. In this case, with the tax from the tributary, the increase would be 1.84 percent, that is, 18.43 pesos.
(Read: Tax has received more than 670 proposals for the first debate).
“The larger the product and the heavier its packaging, the higher the tax will be, since it is in grams.Mitchell explained.
And it is that according to the union, the value of the tax (1.9 pesos per gram of plastic used in packaging and containers) is equivalent at a rate of about 16 percent of the packaging of each product.
Another example is that of the nectar juice in a 300 ml bottle that has a price of 2,300 pesos and that by adding this tax would be 33.63 pesos more. With this, the estimated increase in the price would be 2.76 percent.
Other products that contain plastic, such as cookies, cakes, soaps, yogurts, tomato sauces, dog food or ground coffee, among others, would also be affected.
And other products that are packaged are milk, cheese, meat or flour, which according to Acoplásticos, put a higher tax on them it goes against the goals of the national government to eradicate hunger.
tax collection
Some of these products would increase their price through two channels: due to the tax on plastic and due to the tax on ultra-processed foods. And it is that the reform also seeks to tax food that has a high content of added sugars. And on that list are some packaged products like snacks, cookies or cakes, among others.
(Keep reading: Tax reform, the key issue of the meeting between Petro and Uribe).
At this point, the Minister of Finance said that they will propose an exception in the tax so that small businesses are no longer taxed, such as bakeries. In addition, he said that they are defining the definitive list of products that will be taxed and that it will be presented in the text for the first debate paper.
Of the total production of packaging used in Colombia, 22 percent goes to food, 17 percent to beverages, 29 percent to toiletries, cleaning products, cosmetics, chemicals and fertilizers, 23 percent to commerce, restaurants and hotels, and 9 percent to other sectors.
ECONOMY
TIME
