Economist and Harvard professor Juan Ariel Jiménez said that in the Dominican Republic, consideration should be given to restoring the fiscal legitimacy of the system by bringing citizens closer to budgetary decision-making.
Jiménez indicated that one way to ensure that citizens trust in the collection of taxes is to reward them with better services and better infrastructure.
The former Minister of Economy, during a conference held in Moca on “The challenges of the Dominican economy in the short, medium and long term” proposed that part of the taxes collected in each province be transferred to a trust for infrastructure development per province.
“Each trust must establish a provincial council and part of its tax resources must be invested in the construction of structures required by the community such as roads, dams, bridges, among others,” he said during his speech offered to the Coopcredia partners.
He also proposed that part of the income tax paid by companies be allocated to a trust fund for the development of sectoral infrastructure.
The professor indicated that in this way citizen participation in budgetary decision-making spaces will be increased.
He took as an example the case of Bogotá, Colombia, which during the mayoral administration of Antanas Mockus, committed to giving legitimacy to the collection of taxes and the city experienced a transformation of its tax culture, as citizens appreciated a reciprocity between taxes and the improvement of public services, thereby generating feelings of co-responsibility in the financing of development.
“We need to bring citizens closer to decision-making. This is a way of guaranteeing citizens’ voice in the use of their own taxes,” he said.
