On Monday, the legislators approved two more changes to the bill for the Strengthening of Public Finances. The first one is that 50% of income tax will be charged to those who transmit radio and soap operas; the second is that those who produce and consume their own electric power from renewable sources are exempted from this tax.
Regarding soap operas, National Liberation (PLN) legislator Yorleni León indicated that the Government intended to reduce this tax to 25%, however, her group proposed to raise it again to 50% and it was approved.
These changes, proposed by legislator of the National Liberation Party (PLN), will be integrated into the text in which the Special Commission of Public Finance still works. It is expected that this project in its entirety, whose objective is to improve the fiscal situation of the country, will be presented again before the plenary the first week of August, for another period of motions, before voting.
During the first period, the legislators filed 1,008 motions, of which 500 were from Dragos Dalanescu, from the Republican Social Christian Party (PRSC). However, he did not defend any of the motions which allowed for rapid progress.
Bill 20,580 Strengthening Public Finance proposes reforms in four lines:
-The current sales tax will be converted into the Value Added Tax (VAT). This will cause that practically all the goods and services are taxed at 13%, including gymnasiums, lawyers, rent of vehicles, online services such as Netflix, concerts, football matches, private health services, and education, among others.
-The creation of the tax on capital income, which would be paid by those who buy bonds in banks. The tax would be assessed between 8% and 15%.
-More rigorous payments of salary bonuses to public employees, such as exclusive dedication, prohibition, annuities, and to put a ceiling on luxury salaries.
-Finally, they aim at having better control over spending and investment of State institutions. For this, they must generate follow-up procedures when budgeting.