During the second year of the Correa government, the largest capital outflow was recorded. The current authorities seek to open a window for the regularization of the escaped.
In the last 14 years, more than $ 1,173 million annually have stepped out, on average, illegally from Ecuador. In other words, these resources have been “leaked out”Without any type of declaration or registration with the national authorities.
According to Global Financial Integrity, those flows They are an approximate calculation and include money from corruption, drug trafficking and other crimes, but also the legal assets of people and companies that have sought to shield themselves from the political, economic and regulatory instability of the country.
Money ‘leak’ in 2008
For example, in 2008 the highest leakage (more than $ 4,000 million) mostly related to Ecuadorians who feared confiscations or exaggerated tax charges during Rafael Correa’s first months in power.
In total, it is estimated that there are more than $ 16.4 billion that are in the Exterior and off the radar of institutions like the Internal Revenue Service (SRI). However, that figure can be doubled if the resources that could be involved in the call are added. fake billing inside of the International Trade, that is, the undervaluation of exports and imports to divert funds. Likewise, the dimension of everything that actually generates the organized crime it is difficult to quantify exactly
According to Belén Rodríguez, a tax attorney, this reality is one of the greatest challenges within the efforts that can be made to combat tax evasion.
“Several governments have set their sights on that, but nothing has ever materialized. In the government of Lenín Moreno, a regime of regularization from active abroad; but it did not prosper. Now, the Government of Guillermo Lasso is trying again within its tax reform”, commented.
Begin to recover part of what escaped
In the so-called Economic Development Law, the current Government includes a regime temporary to declare and regularize assets at Exterior.
Thus, a window opens, between March and December 2022, for goods and money to be legalized, in exchange for a payment of between 3.5% and 5.5% on their value.
The main advantage of this initiative is that the implementation of a regime of this type is a prerequisite for the entry into force of the exchange from financial information that Ecuador has signed with the United States and more than 100 countries worldwide.
With these exchanges, in the medium and long term, authorities such as the SRI will be able to better monitor and detect the illicit flows to impose drastic penalties and force the payment of taxes.
In this sense, the people and companies that take advantage of this window of opportunity will have two main advantages. First, they will pay a minimum tax (the sooner they pay, the lower the percentage) to regularize their assets.
Second, subsequent consequences, both economic and legal, are avoided if the authorities detect in the future undeclared resources and that, at the time, they could have benefited from the facilities proposed in the labor reform.
“A higher payment of income taxes may be required, of up to 37% on everything not declared, without taking into account penalties and interest. In addition, they will have to face severe tax lawsuits and audits, ”Rodríguez pointed out.
It is expected to raise $ 200 million
The idea behind this is that the only way to reduce the illicit outflow of resources, and the evasion that goes hand in hand, is with the dissuasive effect: that those who break the laws and do not pay what they owe are punished.
The Government expects to raise around $ 200 million with the regularization immediate, which is a conservative figure, if only the more than $ 16 billion of illegal flows calculated by Global Financial Integrity are taken into account.
The Ecuadorian goal is much lower than what was achieved with similar processes in countries such as Colombia, Chile or Argentina, because the national economy is smaller; but also to the fact that a large percentage of the escaped capital has its origin in corruption and drug trafficking. In those cases, a voluntary declaration is completely unthinkable. (JS)
