The Chamber of Commerce of the Caroní municipality of Bolívar state insists that as long as the State does not apply tax relief policies and tax harmonization, migration to the informal sector of the economy will increase, which threatens private companies and the treasury.
Text: Laura Clisánchez | Mail of the Caroni
Catherine Wilson, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Caroní (Camcaroní), stated that this wave of inspections will only cause greater tax evasion and greater migration to the informal sector of the economy, which not only harms the final consumer and businessmen but also the treasury, which stops receiving income.
“The fines are unpayable. They go to the businesses (officials from the Superintendence of Taxes of the Mayor’s Office), request the documentation and proceed to fine based on presumed sales,” Wilson said.
He specified that the Mayor’s Office imposes the fines under the presumption of how much the company failed to declare, and not based on the actual amount that the taxpayer failed to declare.
“The problem is that if the Superintendence of Taxes does not fully understand that the capacity is very high, the companies simply prefer to evade taxes or go informal so as not to have to pay,” said the businesswoman.
The business sector insists that the State must generate tax incentives, reduce tax rates, and harmonize taxes, in addition to the fact that taxes must be applied according to the taxpaying capacity of the companies, otherwise, it is confiscatory.
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Wilson explains that there are appraisals that range between 4% and 6% of the company’s gross income depending on the item, which, together with other national, regional and municipal taxes, and utility bills, sentence the commercial sector to closure.
In the end, businesses must modify their cost structure and, therefore, transfer costs to the price of products, which at the same time fosters unfair competition between formal and informal businesses.
In recent years, the high rates have caused the migration to the informal sector of 75% of the small and medium-sized companies that are members, according to figures shared by Austerio González, president of Fedecamaras Bolívar in December 2021.
“If the Mayor’s Office collects, there should be an improvement in our city; an improvement is perceived, but we do not want the entire tax burden to fall on entrepreneurs”, concluded Wilson.
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