The objective of the document is to change the tax conception regarding the treatment of fuels derived from petroleum.
Buzarquis presented the document on Thursday morning after a press conference. Óscar Forestieri, one of his advisers, participated in it, as well as Stan Canova, financial adviser, and the tax specialist, Alba Talavera.
The legislator regretted that so far this year, the price of fuel has already increased on several occasions (three in total), however, the Government, through the Treasury, calls for silence alleging that nothing can be done.
“We do not see an institutional response from the government. Making a statement about this. On the contrary, they say that it is a free market, that it depends on OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) and that they cannot do anything,” he questioned.
He stated that on Tuesday they will have a meeting with the Budget Committee to discuss this issue. After that, it will be incorporated in the Agenda for the debate of the senators.
He stressed that fuel is a basic right. That is, it is like water or electricity.
“This is serious because it generates inflation. This means the loss of people’s purchasing power. When the fuel goes up everything goes up. The price of milk, eggs and all the products of the basic basket goes up because the cost of production and freight goes up. That’s why it’s dangerous,” he warned.
He noted that jobs are also at risk with this. For example, that of the deliveries that were precisely manifested on Wednesday due to this situation.
TECHNICAL PART
The project basically consists of eliminating the Selective Consumption Tax (ISC) on fuel, and to match these losses for the Treasury, the Value Added Tax (VAT) will be increased on products that are not essential, such as high-end vehicles, sugary drinks, alcoholic beverages, jewelry and more.
The state oil company Petropar announced that it will invest US$ 100 million to alleviate the increase in fuel. In this regard, Buzarquis stated that this will only affect the fuels that belong to its service stations. However, what he proposes is a reduction at the country level that benefits all the inhabitants.
Stan Canova, an economist, stated that there must be a commitment from the financial sector to accompany. In other words, it will not make sense to reduce taxes if the private emblems do not lower their fuel costs at the same time.
“Eliminating the ISC has two components. On the one hand, that the Government approves and on the other hand that the private sector accompanies. That amount that is going to be excluded in the entire price structure. It won’t do any good if this goes down and prices stay the same”, he concluded.
