NewsWhore
07-05-2011, 02:10 PM
For some reason, the lines from the Ancient Mariner come to mind: "Water water everywhere, nor any drop to drink."
More and more money seems to be coming in every day but yet there is less and less money to spend. The collections of the fuel taxes up to May reached RD$16.30 billion, an increase of RD$2.06 billion, some 14% over the same period in 2010, when they collected RD$14.24 billion. Nevertheless, when these results are compared with the budget projections for the same period (RD$17.05 billion), a shortfall of RD$742 million will be noticed.
According to Diario Libre, the reason for the shortfall is due to the delay in the indexation of the tax per gallon established in Law 112-00, which has caused a reduction in the fixed tax collections of RD$1.36 billion below what was expected as RD$8.83 were collected instead of RD$10.19 billion.
However, a study by the Henri Hebrard Consultants firm in the Petroleum and Money Bulletin argues that as a result of the strong increase in the price of oil, the gap with relation to the 2011 budget resulted less, due to the greater collections on the 16% ad-valorum tax that contributed as of May, RD$7.476 billion, which is to say RD$625 million above the budget estimate for this year, equivalent to 9.1%.
"The 2011 Budget projections look very aggressive with regard to these two taxes, since it is expected that they will provide RD$43.479 billion during 2011, which is a rather enormous increase of 24.5% versus what was achieved in 2010, equal to RD$8.503 billion in additional money," according to the study.
Nevertheless, the figures published by the Department of Taxes (DGII) up until May this year show that the collections from hydrocarbons only managed a growth of 14.5%, far below the commitment set in the 2011 Budget and in the Stand-by arrangement with the International Monetary Fund. It is estimated that this could be the reason that the IMF felt it was reasonable to authorize an increase in the fiscal deficit from RD$33.54 billion to RD$41.07 billion in the last review of the stand-by agreement, according to the Proposal to Modify the 2011 Budget which was sent to the Senate last week, which represents RD$7.52 billion. The Executive Branch sent a legislative proposal to Congress that seeks to transfer RD$20.74 billion to the Public Electricity Corporation (CDEEE) from the 12% reductions in the budgets of state institutions and PetroCaribe financing.
The cost of the Dominican basket of fuels, without LPG, climbed from RD$197.66 to RD$201.99, a 2.1% increase during June, while the average cost in Central America registered a slight decrease, going from RD$171.96 to RD$169.04, a 1.69% decrease. The average price of the local fuels is RD$32.95 above the Central American average. Last month, the difference was RD$25.71 which puts into evidence that the competitiveness issues of these economies have become more serious due to the taxes.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)
More and more money seems to be coming in every day but yet there is less and less money to spend. The collections of the fuel taxes up to May reached RD$16.30 billion, an increase of RD$2.06 billion, some 14% over the same period in 2010, when they collected RD$14.24 billion. Nevertheless, when these results are compared with the budget projections for the same period (RD$17.05 billion), a shortfall of RD$742 million will be noticed.
According to Diario Libre, the reason for the shortfall is due to the delay in the indexation of the tax per gallon established in Law 112-00, which has caused a reduction in the fixed tax collections of RD$1.36 billion below what was expected as RD$8.83 were collected instead of RD$10.19 billion.
However, a study by the Henri Hebrard Consultants firm in the Petroleum and Money Bulletin argues that as a result of the strong increase in the price of oil, the gap with relation to the 2011 budget resulted less, due to the greater collections on the 16% ad-valorum tax that contributed as of May, RD$7.476 billion, which is to say RD$625 million above the budget estimate for this year, equivalent to 9.1%.
"The 2011 Budget projections look very aggressive with regard to these two taxes, since it is expected that they will provide RD$43.479 billion during 2011, which is a rather enormous increase of 24.5% versus what was achieved in 2010, equal to RD$8.503 billion in additional money," according to the study.
Nevertheless, the figures published by the Department of Taxes (DGII) up until May this year show that the collections from hydrocarbons only managed a growth of 14.5%, far below the commitment set in the 2011 Budget and in the Stand-by arrangement with the International Monetary Fund. It is estimated that this could be the reason that the IMF felt it was reasonable to authorize an increase in the fiscal deficit from RD$33.54 billion to RD$41.07 billion in the last review of the stand-by agreement, according to the Proposal to Modify the 2011 Budget which was sent to the Senate last week, which represents RD$7.52 billion. The Executive Branch sent a legislative proposal to Congress that seeks to transfer RD$20.74 billion to the Public Electricity Corporation (CDEEE) from the 12% reductions in the budgets of state institutions and PetroCaribe financing.
The cost of the Dominican basket of fuels, without LPG, climbed from RD$197.66 to RD$201.99, a 2.1% increase during June, while the average cost in Central America registered a slight decrease, going from RD$171.96 to RD$169.04, a 1.69% decrease. The average price of the local fuels is RD$32.95 above the Central American average. Last month, the difference was RD$25.71 which puts into evidence that the competitiveness issues of these economies have become more serious due to the taxes.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)