The Dominican government steps back and withdraws the proposed tax increase

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - In Brief 09 Oct 2020 by Magdalena Lizardo

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Under the justification of being a Government that listens to its citizens, President Luis Abinader, in a speech last night to the nation, made public the decision to withdraw the proposal of creating new transitory taxes for 2021. The latter tax reform was considered in the Public Budget Bill for 2021, which was submitted to the National Congress on October 1st. The fiscal revenue that would have been contributed by the new taxes will be replaced by an early payment of future taxes by the Barrick Gold mining company and the financial sector. Concomitantly, President Luis Abinader summoned the Economic and Social Council for October 26 with the expectation that all parties, within a period of 6 months, can discuss and agree on the Fiscal and Electrical Pacts to come into effect in 2022. The agreement of these pacts are mandated by Law 1-12 of the National Development Strategy, which establishes that the Electricity Pact should have been agreed upon and entered into force no later than 2013 and the Fiscal Pact no later than 2015. The PLD administration attempted to conclude the Electric Pact, which, at the time, the PRM opposed. In his speech, President Abinader also reported on the actions that the Government has taken to reduce the fiscal deficit, address the health crisis, reactivate the economy, and protect the population. He also pointed out that the country's economic crisis has not only been the result of the impact of COVID-19, which is a serious economic situation experienced by the world at large, but also of the corruption and impunity that existed in the country during the PLD governments. At the same time, the President accused the Audit Chamber of neglecti...