Entrepreneurs highlight their contribution to tax collections, but note that the public sector is not improving

After knowing the figures of tax collections provided by the National Tax Service (SIN), which indicate that in 2022 there were Bs 42,128 million, 17.3% (Bs 35,901 million) more than in 2021, a sector of the business community referred to the issue.

Jean Pierre Antelopresident of the Federation of Private Entrepreneurs of Santa Cruz (Fepsc) argued that the tax figures show a mixed facet regarding the state of public finances and the economy, and effectively demonstrate that the formal sector accompanies the objectives aligned with which has the authority.

Antelo sees positive that the formal sector pays taxes and complies with its obligations to the State despite the conflicts. This contribution increases the collectionwhich alleviates the financing needs of the public sector.

However, he noted that the figure for 2022 (Bs 42.1 billion) is similar to that of 2018 and unfortunately is lower than that of 2013 and 2015, which on average were Bs 47 billion.

“The latter is worrying because it shows that the public sector has not been able to recover revenues after the boom reached in 2014. The challenge of reactivating the economy must be jointly between the public and private sectors. The figures also suggest the increase in informality due to decades-long regulatory and regulatory problems in the country, aggravated in recent years,” Antelo remarked.

In turn, from the MMinistry of Economy and Public Financehighlighted the collection numbers and indicated that these data reaffirm that the recovery of the economy is faster than expected.

The economic portfolio pointed out that the 2020 drop was 20%that is to say that the State stopped receiving Bs 1 of every Bs 5 due to the effect of the pandemic and the restrictive and deficient measures of the previous Government.

“This drop in collection It greatly affected transfers to the autonomous regions, such as governorates, municipalities, and public universities. Must be remember that the payment of taxes is determined by the taxpayers themselves, who declare their economic movement periodically to the National Tax Service”, they specified from this ministry.

Antelo indicated that, although the collection of the Value Added Tax (VAT) of 2022 was 4% higher than in 2021, it is still at the same level as in 2019. And in the case of the Tax on Business Profits (IUE), the 37% increase reported compared to 2021 is positive, but the amount collected (Bs 9.9 billion) is considerably lower than the 2013-2019 average (Bs 10.9 billion), which reflects the state of the companies.

“We are concerned that despite the GDP growth from 6% in 2021 and 4% in the first half of 2022, family income in June 2022 was on average lower than before the pandemic in percentages ranging from 10% to even 20%. Without a doubt, we are better than during the pandemic, but we are the same or worse than before the health crisis, so it is necessary to push the country all together,” Antelo stressed.