Duque questions the possibility of a tax reform



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“No country in the world has ventured to make reforms in the middle of a pandemic,” President Iván Duque told La República about the possibility of implementing a tax reform, as announced by Alberto Carrasquilla, Minister of Finance, in past days.

Although he did not rule out the possibility of making a reform and presenting it in the first half of next year, lThe sentence did leave many analysts thoughtful, including Blu Radio panelist Paola Ochoa, who stated that, ultimately, There will be no reform for next year because, in addition, it considers that the pandemic will extend until 2022.

“The devil is in the details. That phrase of ‘No country in the world has ventured to make reforms in the middle of a pandemic’, tells me a lot. We are talking about a tax reform in the first quarter of next year, when we are going to be in a pandemic. In 2022 we will continue to have a pandemic, ”said the panelist.

(See also: Carrasquilla announces the date for the next tax reform in Colombia)

For Ochoa, the President of the Republic has begun to distance himself in the face of Carrasquilla’s announcements regarding the possibility of presenting a tax reform.

What Duque did make very clear is that, more than a tax reform, we must bet on the recovery of the national economy and the total reactivation of all sectors.

“No country in the world has ventured to make reforms in the middle of the pandemic, and we must emphasize the reactivation of sectors and economic growth before thinking about fiscal measures,” he said.

In fact, it talks about a “fiscal strategy that allows strengthening the economic reactivation, the generation of new income, the targeting of spending, and the sustainability of public finances in the medium and long term.”

He also referred to the level of external debt that Colombia reached in the midst of the pandemic as a financial lifeline.

“In the first place, it must be said that this is not a phenomenon that has occurred only in Colombia, the entire world increased its public debt as a result of lower State revenues and higher expenditures made to serve the population affected by the pandemic ”, he assured.

With all that, there are no more indications so far to ensure that a tax reform is ruled out for next year.



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