On April 25, the Broad Front presented to the Executive Branch a series of proposals to mitigate the economic and social crisis, which are aimed at generating employment, increasing wages and pensions, and containing the prices of basic necessities.
The FA includes in its initiatives: the exemption from Value Added Tax (VAT) for 19 products of the basic family basket, an increase in monetary transfers (Uruguay Social Card and Family Allowance Equity Plan), and the increase in the Minimum Wage National, among others.
Financing
From the parties that make up the government coalition, the majority opinions go against the initiatives of the opposition.
The first to speak was Lacalle Pou, who on Tuesday the 26th said that, although he still did not have full knowledge of the proposals, he considered that they should have financing. “You have to make the effort, but be responsible. We will see the proposals that are made and we will answer as far as possible those that are feasible to take and others we will explain why not.
Demagogy
For his part, the senator and leader of Cabildo Abierto, Guido Manini Ríos, said that part of the FA measures (such as exempting 19 products from the food basket from VAT) are “exactly the same” as those proposed by his party. politician more than a month ago” and that were approved by the Treasury Committee of the Senate.
However, regarding the FA’s proposal to freeze fuel prices until the end of the year, Manini Ríos considered that “it seems like a demagogic proposal.”
“Of course, all Uruguayans would love for fuel not to go up any more. But there are variables that we do not control and great international uncertainty. So, we cannot happily ask that the fuel not go up any more”, sentenced the legislator of Cabildo Abierto.
Regarding the possibility of removing VAT from supergas, Manini said that it coincides and is a “measure to study and adopt.”
Division in the Colorados
The exemption from VAT on basic necessities with payment through electronic means, such as a debit or credit card, generated opposing views within the Colorado Party.
For Conrado Rodríguez (Batllistas), it is a “negative” statement, because the public praised the obligation of financial inclusion, which was incorporated in one of the articles of the 135 questioned of the Law of Urgent Consideration (LUC), then It would be an indirect way of “forcing people to be within financial inclusion in order to receive a tax exemption benefit on a certain product,” he told La Diaria.
Instead, the deputy Felipe Schipani (Citizens) considered that “it is shareable that this is channeled through electronic means of payment, to ensure that the tax waiver effectively reaches the recipient.”
Schipani recalled that on April 12 Ciudadanos presented to President Lacalle the reduction of VAT on the products of the basic basket and the use of electronic means of payment, a system similar to that applied in restaurants, since it ensures the return of VAT to the consumer and prevents trade transfers the discount to the price, reduces tax evasion and allows monitoring of the use of the benefit”.
