On Monday, the unions of the country presented a counter proposal for the tax collection plan of the Executive Branch. According to the unions, their alternative would allow the collection of around ¢1,300 million annually.
The representatives of the Trade Union Unit integrated by the Confederation of Workers Rerum Novarum (CTRN), Bussco, and Patria Justa delivered the proposal to the president, Carlos Alvarado. Hours before, the proposal was also delivered to the Catholic Church.
The document called “A Fair and Solidary Fiscal Reform for Costa Rica” consists of 15 pages and has 40 initiatives that were prepared by a technical trade union committee.
In the approach of the trade unions, it is important to lift the veil of legal personality in cases where it is used for fraud, specify a law against the participation of public officials in tax havens, as well as one for the transparency of the inactive societies.
It also proposes to tax the capital gains, inheritances, legacies, and luxury donations and make a transition towards a complete global income scheme.
At the same time, it suggests that the objective of the Central Bank is not only to control inflation, but also generate employment and fresh resources for the Development Banking system in order to support enterprises in rural areas.
The unions presented their alternative to the government three days before the Executive Branch presented the text that would substitute the Bill for the Strengthening of Public Finances, where the Value Added and Income are highlighted.
This technical proposal differs from the government’s in that it is not a patch and contains eight measures to fight fiscal fraud, eight other measures to consolidate a progressive tax system, and four proposals to boost the economic recovery of our country, because it is not only through expenditure control and revenue and fiscal governance that we can address the lack of resources. The economy must be more dynamic,”
said Lenin Hernández, spokesperson for the unions.