MEF sent the observations to the Bill that exempts food from VAT

The Minister of Economy, Oscar Grahamsent this Monday, the observations to the Law Autograph that exonerates the general sales tax (IGV) food from the basic family basket, after not going to Parliament to discuss the issue.

The document indicates that although the Executive Power agrees to adopt a measure that frees the payment of VAT for the main foods of the basic food basket due to the current situation in the country, this measure must be focused mainly on those who really need this standard.

“This measure should fall only on those goods that have risen in price and that have a greater impact on the spending of the most vulnerable families. However, the Autograph not only incorporates foods that are not part of the basic basket, but also includes foods that are not part of the consumption of the most vulnerable households”indicates the report presented.

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Among the list of birds that were considered for VAT exemption, the MEF points out that there are animals that are not part of the basic family basket, nor are they for mass consumption by the low-income population, for which they should not be considered. . For example, turkeys, geese, guinea fowl, ducks, among others.

In this line it is mentioned that beef and pork are not part of the products with the highest incidence on the spending of the poorest families; nor are they for mass consumption by them.

On the other hand, he emphasizes that bread should be considered within the products applicable to the exemption, since it has had a constant increase in recent months. Also, remove wheat flour from the list.

“That is why any VAT exemption needs to be evaluated and monitored in short periods of time, even more so in the case of a measure with such a high fiscal cost. Hence, this measure is one of the possible intervention measures to be considered in the short term by this ministry”, mention the document.

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In addition, it is emphasized that the validity of 8 months contemplated in the Autograph does not allow any good to be removed from the list of approved goods during this period, even if the evaluation detects that the exemption does not achieve an effect on the final prices and only increases the prices. profit margins of producers or importers, or if the extraordinary conditions of price increases no longer make such exemptions necessary, among other factors.

Meeting with Congress

The president of the Congress, María del Carmen Alva, reported that the Minister of Economy, Óscar Graham, did not attend the meeting in Parliament today to discuss the issue, but that he sent the observations to the autograph of the law that exempts the general tax to sales (IGV) to food from the basic family basket, which will be seen tomorrow in Congress.

In that sense, he said that tomorrow it has been decided to hold an extraordinary session of the Economy Commission, where a technical analysis of the observations will be carried out, so that there are no errors.

“We are going to approve it tomorrow, we are going to have a plenary session throughout the day”he stated.

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