The tax reform presented by the Government of Gustavo Petro on August 8 is already being processed in Congress, and in the midst of that process, andThe Minister of Finance, José Antonio Ocampohas sent several clear messages to the Legislature about the need for support to process the bill.
(Read: Taxes that yes or yes would remain in tax, according to Minhacienda).
Just yesterday the minister met with the project’s rapporteurs in the Third Committee of the House of Representatives, a space in which the schedule for the next two weeks to discuss the reform. According to the minister, the agreed appointments include working sessions with the speakers, and will also hold meetings with the opposition.
“Next week there will be a meeting with the unions and spaces will also be held in Barranquilla and Cúcuta (…) We are willing to discuss the entire bill, I have been doing it with the third commissions and also with the unions, we have sitting for hours and hours to discuss observations”.
As for the debates in Congress, these will be held in the second week of September.
The Minister of Finance has reiterated on several occasions, before the Congress of the Republic, the importance of processing this tax reform project. An example of this was the letter filed a week ago in which he requested “urgent processing of the bill.”
(Keep reading: Radical Change Party will not support the tax project).
In this it indicates that the project “It is the result of the identification of needs throughout the national territory, which aims to support social spending and consolidate fiscal adjustment through the adoption of a tax reform.
Likewise, this Tuesday, when the head of the Treasury and Public Credit portfolio made the official presentation of the project before the congressmen who make up the joint third commissionshighlighted again before the Legislature that “a reform is being presented to strengthen taxation, increase State income, fight against tax evasion and promote public health and the environment.”
Ocampo spoke in said space about how the reform proposal bets on principles progressivity, equity and efficiencyso that high-income sectors increase their contribution.
In addition to the request for support to process the project in a reasonable time, the minister has also opened spaces for participation from various political positions.
The head of the Treasury invited the Congressmen to locate more proposals that allow raising income for the Nation: “I have even told the friends of the Democratic Center, propose to me what we can increase, not just what we eliminate from the reform project. We need the resources for social programs and to complete the fiscal adjustment”said.
Ocampo has also recognized that there are some points that are already under evaluation. “There are some proposals that the president of the Third Commission (Katherine Miranda) has even presented that we are going to evaluate,” the minister said yesterday. These have to do, for example, with boost taxes for churches.
Other proposals that he has received is to place more taxes on cigarettes, the minister has assured that it is a possibility, but that “it is not a large amount in terms of collection.” A tax on remittances is another of the ideas that has arisen in Congress, but Ocampo assured that “he has doubts on this matter.”
(Also: Tax and budget: debates that prepare third commissions).
He also said that he is working with the Ministry of Health to “rationalize” the list of ultra-processed foods that would be taxed. “This is to reduce the products, we are going to leave sugary at least and we are going to see what we leave behind.”
Against the collection goal of $25.9 billionOcampo has said that this is an objective and that he hopes it will be maintained throughout the discussion of the project in Congress.
“The immovable are the principle that high-income individuals pay more taxes, because it is part of the redistributive effect that should be in the reform,” was another of the minister’s comments.
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