The Law on Economic Efficiency, the first report of which has already been adopted at the plenary session of the National Assembly, will open a broad umbrella of tax amnesties, i.e. amnesty of interest, fines and surcharges for debtors of both the Tax Administration (SRI), as well as other entities: decentralized autonomous governments (GAD) , the National Transport Agency (ANT) or those who administer educational credits (Institute of Human Talent or IECE).

The original proposal did not detail the scope of this option, but the first hearing report already discussed by the Economic Development Commission establishes a general reference, with virtually no limitations.

This issue worries experts, both because of the fiscal sacrifice it could imply, and because of the message against the tax culture it would send.

The second transitional provision of the draft indicates that “taxpayers who settle all due tax obligations on the date of entry into force of this law or those taxpayers who have been notified by a notice of differences or a draft record by the date of entry into force of this law will enjoy a 100% amnesty interest, fines and additional fees derived from taxes, the management and collection of which is the responsibility of the Tax Administration.”

Payment must be made within a maximum of 150 days from the publication of the law. They must present the withdrawal of national and/or international administrative, judicial, constitutional or arbitral resources or actions before payment.

In the case of debts under the GAD, debtors may be granted protection by decision of the municipal, metropolitan or provincial executive, as appropriate, without the need for a decree.

The bill also establishes that borrowers of education loans (Institute of Human Talent, IECE) and those with outstanding vehicle registration obligations can benefit from the benefits.

In addition, there are a number of debt forgiveness options:

Thus, the Assembly changed the original proposal in the sense that it no longer leaves details for regulations, but incorporated into the law itself a number of benefits that benefit everyone, without restrictions. “That is, civil servants, military personnel, police officers and their families can benefit. The amnesty extends to all SRI liabilities: income tax, foreign currency outflow tax, VAT, among others, regardless of the amount,” says Napoleón Santamaría, a tax lawyer.

A few days ago, he insisted that the reference could not be so general, because not being limited to politicians, it can be understood that the law is dedicated to the current Government; Furthermore, the military and police should abide by the law and should not commit these offenses. He also said that whoever receives VAT and does not submit it to the state treasury on time, has not only committed a tax offense, but has also committed fraud.

The expert also advised against 100% interest forgiveness, as it is an overly generous concession to debtors.

What is astonishing, says Pablo Guevara, partner of tax consulting Andersen, is that the Government sends a bill to obtain revenue that will enable it to improve the fiscal situation, by establishing special exemptions for certain cases, but now the Parliament imposes a higher tax on the victim. “It seems to be very generous on the part of the Assembly, things that will not affect them but the executive. I assume they talked about it with the government, otherwise they get rid of other people’s money.”

He believes that the message given to society by such measures is inappropriate. The thing is that there are taxpayers who respect the law and must be disappointed in the state when they see that it is forgiving those who did not respect it and who should bear the consequences, the message that is given is that it does not matter if it is not respected, because it is for several years a new revision.

“Forgiveness is disgusting because, although it is necessary to settle accounts with debtors, if they are so frequent, it is counterproductive.”

Guevara also draws attention to another piece of legislation: a reform of the Internal Revenue Code that establishes amnesty for those who pay within seven days of determination actions by the Internal Revenue Service. For Guevara, this is also an invitation to not pay on time and wait for the SRI to discover them, determine them and then take advantage of the 75% interest forgiveness.