The proposal was made by Bergara and approved by the Finance Commission of the Chamber of Senators with the affirmative vote of all political sectors.
Through the minutes to the Executive, it is requested that the government submit a bill to Parliament so that for a period of six months the 19 products of the basic food basket are exempt from VAT, most of which are taxed with the minimum VAT, ie 10%.
The tax exemption is a private initiative of the Executive Power, that is, it cannot be carried out by the Parliament, for this reason it was requested through a communication document.
Bergara said that so far, the government has submitted to the Legislative Power a project to lower VAT for one month only for strip roasts, and another to exempt pasta and baked goods from the same tax and for the same period. “Which is insufficient, a salute to the flag.”
Likewise, at the FA’s proposal, it was proposed that the VAT reduction could also be channeled when electronic means of payment are used, because experience has shown, at least in what has to do with strip roasts, that the tax waiver , the benefit to the State, “does not necessarily reach the final consumer, the families, who are the recipients of the measure, because that reduction remains in the distribution chain, or the quality of the product is lowered, as happened with the roast.”
The Frente Amplio parliamentarian said that the proposal to exempt VAT for six months on 19 basic products has a low fiscal cost and is essential due to the escalation of prices and the context of falling wages and real liabilities.
Increase in salaries and liabilities
“The increase in prices is boosted because the income of families is falling. We have had inflations of this type in the past, but they have occurred in contexts where real wages and liabilities increased”, she said.
Bergara considered that the VAT exemption measures must be complemented with higher salary increases, even if they are transitory, so that the most affected sectors can recover some of what was lost in the last two years, and the same with regard to the liabilities that could be increased by above the Average Salary Index (IMS). In other words, increases focused on the most needy sectors.
