Business sector rejects more taxes

[NewsWhore]

In full-page advertisements in most of the daily newspapers, 26 major business associations are expressing their rejection of the government's proposed tax reform, no matter what shape it takes. Headed by the National Council for Business (CONEP), and embracing every possible sector from soft drinks to meat packers, the associations point out that there have been five tax increases since 2000 and three within the last two and a half years. These tax increases have produced an additional RD$90 billion in revenues and have allowed the government to nearly double its annual budget. To add insult to injury, the associations clarify that up to September 2006 government spending had increased by 25% over 2005, but government income had increased by just 19.9%. Non-personnel services grew by 83.7%, operating expenses in office supplies grew by 39.8%, government expenditures in publicity grew by more than 130% and per diem payments increased by more than 80%. Purchases of fuels increased by 100%. The associations emphasized that "one of the budget items that is out of control... is the electricity subsidy." They said that all this does is hide the distributors' management and debt collection inefficiencies without investing in a definite solution to the problem. The nation's business leaders ended by saying that "it appears to be paradoxical to propose a new tax increase, since it threatens the competitiveness of local businesses on the threshold of entering DR-CAFTA." "Most of the countries around the world are reducing taxes to become more competitive. In our country we need to do exactly this if we are to compete fair conditions, and attract domestic and foreign investments to create jobs and sustainable development," concludes the business sector statement.

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