The deadline for the National Assembly to approve the urgent economic project expires on November 27
The National Assembly, this November 16, concluded the first debate of the urgent bill on Fiscal Development and Sustainability, proposed by the Executive and that seeks a collection of $ 1.9 billion with the implementation of new tax burdens for natural and legal persons, as well as special contributions on patrimonies.
Legislator Francisco Jiménez (CREO) was the speaker of the Executive’s project and clarified that the special temporary one-time contribution on the patrimony will affect only about 6,000 people, since no taxpayer with an patrimony of less than one million dollars will have to pay.
At first debate the urgent Law on Development and Fiscal Sustainability
Regarding the companies, Jiménez indicated that for two years the largest companies in the country with an equity greater than $ 4 million, that is, 2,300 companies, will pay a special contribution.
Regarding personal taxes, he said that this will affect those who earn a salary greater than $ 2,500 per month, and clarified that the personal expenses deduction system is maintained at $ 10,000.
Pabel Muñoz, from the UNES movement, questioned the reform and assured that the proposal is not for economic reactivation, so much so that on the part of the Ministry of Economy there is an expectation of growth lower than that obtained in 2021. With this new law no new jobs will be created, he said.
That the regulation raises contributions for companies and societies with a difference of $ 4 million, and that the income tax reforms are a stab in the pockets of the middle class of Ecuador, because the way of calculation is changed and it is eliminated from deductions.
He indicated that there is a reform that could give rise to a conflict of interest, because how can it be that it is intended to remove incentives from the productive sphere and an incentive is proposed for financial and banking speculative capital, so that short-term investments are exempted from the tax on income. rent.
He questioned that the elimination of the inheritance tax be considered, as well as the regularization of capital that is outside the country, in the midst of the debate that has been given by companies offshore.
The legislator César Rohón (before PSC) warned that care must be taken with the reform of the Executive because it cannot affect the pocket of the middle class, as he assured that 76% of taxpayers are in the segment between $ 2,000 and $ 3,500, since it is necessary to keep the balance to continue maintaining the formality of the economy.
He stated that this law has to comply with legality, as it revealed that there were irregularities in the approval of the report without having been debated and that 150 pages were approved without reading them, where the tax table was modified and that it contains several spelling mistakes and syntax errors.
He questioned that this reform will generate economic reactivation and employment, as he assured that collection is prioritized.
The coordinator of Pachakutik, Rafael Lucero, announced several observations to the project that he hopes will be included in the text of the second debate. He stated that the project should not affect people who have a fair income to cover the basic food basket, nor should it affect the middle class through a table of contributions. He proposed that the table of deductions in the health area be raised.
Regarding the contribution on individual assets, Pachakutik proposes to increase the payment to 2%, considering that the law must guarantee the constitutional principle of progressiveness and proportionality.
Regarding the temporary sole voluntary tax regime for the regulation of assets abroad, the legislator Rafael Lucero indicated that it is not possible for the regulation of capital abroad to be voluntary, and that a contribution of 3.5% be set, for what that political sector proposes that this tax be 5%.
The Galapagos legislator for the PSC, Pedro Zapata, raised the project file as he said that he does not agree with the reforms applied to the Special Law of Galapagos, since in his opinion it is inappropriate to extend the tourist operation on the islands to 20 years , without consulting the Galapagos.
That this reform, which the Government generously intends to deliver, benefits large companies that are no longer even national, but transnational.
The vice president of the National Assembly, Virgilio Saquicela, considered the project sufficiently debated and closed the session. The Executive’s proposal will return to the Economic Development Commission for the preparation of the report for the second and final debate. The deadline for the Assembly to approve this law expires on November 27. (I)
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