The positive presentation was filed with only seven signatures, while the economic commissions prepare to begin the debate.
The positive presentation of the project of the tax reform o Financing Law, promoted by the president’s government Gustavo Petrowas formally filed this Tuesday in the Congress of the Republic.
The initiative aims to raise 16.3 billion pesosafter the reduction of 10 billion compared to the original proposal.
This Tuesday the Joint Economic Commissions of the House and Senate for the technical presentation of the project, without a vote. The formal debate is expected to open on Wednesday.
In Congress they recognize that, even if the debate opens, the vote faces a major obstacle: the archival presentation would have more support than the positive.
According to the legislative schedule, the discussion will only have 11 days to advance before December 16, when the recess begins.
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A meeting of speakers was held on Monday at the Ministry of Finance. They only attended 6 of the 27 congressmen summoned. There it was confirmed that the positive presentation has only 7 signatures.
With that level of support, politically it could be said that the Government would be defeated. Among the signatures are: Jhon Jairo Roldán, Jorge Batidas, Aída Avella, Jairo Cala, Gildardo Silva and Gloria Arizabaleta.
With this panorama, in the commissions it is taken for granted that the negative presentation would have more votes if the debate started this week.
Government adjustments to the text
In recent weeks, the Ministry of Finance introduced several changes to the original proposal.
It was decided not to impose fuel taxeswhich would reduce by more than $2.6 billion the projected income.
The scope of the tax increases was also reduced. tobacco already beerwhose projected collection went from $7.8 billion to $3.1 billion.
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In tax relief, the goal fell from $6.3 billion to $3.7 billion.
In it income tax Progressivity was maintained with rates between 19%—for incomes close to $6.5 million—and 41% for the tallest.
Unresolved issues persist, such as the possible 19% VAT to hybrid vehicles (today they pay 5%) and the tax on economic activities carried out by churchessuch as rental of rooms, tourism or publications.
Source: Integrated Information System
