The organizations that make up the Banana and Plata Cluster of Ecuador are giving their support to the emergency economic law to deal with the internal armed conflict, which provides for the increase of the value added tax (VAT) from 12% to 15%.
For producer and exporter unions, the 3% increase in the rate of this tax does not affect products in the core basket or medicines, transportation and basic services, among others, and will generate approximately $1,292 million additional for the state in 2024.
“These resources would be immediately available to counter a serious threat to internal stability and security. The increase in VAT is an effort of the private sector, companies and citizens, patriotically necessary to face this crisis,” says the statement that brings together the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE), the Association for the Marketing and Export of Bananas (Acorbanec), the Regional Corporation of Ecuadorian Banana Growers (Agroban), Chamber of Agriculture, Association of Banana Exporters (Asoexpla) and eight groups of the Commission for Associations of Small Producers.
The assemblymen are asking for the costs of the internal armed war and are proposing alternatives to avoid the VAT increase to 15%
The proposal is being analyzed in the National Assembly and there are objections. The Banana Cluster’s support includes the demand that tax increases be matched with measurable results and transparency in the management of public resources. In addition to this measure, it is necessary to “reduce inefficient expenditures with structural measures and reforms and thus attack the real cause of the fiscal deficit, namely excessive public spending and poorly structured subsidies.”
The sector sees these efforts to add to those undertaken by private companies in recent years in terms of security, investing almost $100 million annually in measures to strengthen the value chain, contributing approximately $480 million annually in taxes applied to economic activities and resource cooperation to strengthen the capabilities of public forces such as the national police and armed forces.
Source: Eluniverso
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