It is time to say enough

The provincial president released an extensive statement through his social networks in which he publicly demanded that national legislators resume the discussion on the fiscal policy of the tobacco sector, a section that had been included in the ruling party’s megaproject but was finally eliminated. by decision of La Libertad Avanza and the PRO.

“He Congress today you have the opportunity to correct an injustice which represents a huge cost for the country; not only for its 7 tobacco provinces but for its 24 jurisdictions,” said Sáenz and added that “preserving a privilege added to the fear of face the true caste It costs all of us Argentines, a lot.”

Gustavo Sáenz asked to end the privileges of Mr. Tobacco: “The Congress has the opportunity to correct an injustice”

Currently, the Otero company is the beneficiary of a series of precautionary measures against him minimum internal tax that allow you to market the brands Red Point, West, Master and Kiel at values ​​lower than those of the competition. The original text of the Bases law authorized increasing the tax from 70% to 73%, ending the current minimum tax, which would lead Tabacalera Sarandí to have to comply with its tax obligations. However, the tobacco chapter will not be discussed in Congress.

“Thanks to this privilege, the equivalent of 1 billion dollars per year in Internal Taxes is evaded; that is, 0.2 points of GDP”stated the governor of Salta and compared it with the current adjustment of the government of Javier Milei: “The national government boasts that it has achieved the largest fiscal adjustment in the history of humanity during the first quarter of the year How much is this adjustment? Coincidentally 0.2 points of GDP“.

Likewise, he referred to the damage that it generates in terms of co-participation, given that internal taxes are distributed among the provinces in their entirety. “We are facing a federal problem, not just the northern provinces”he said and added that to the provincial coffers “about US$ 600 million stop entering and the Treasury US$ 400 million a year. “Buenos Aires, for example, which does not have a single tobacco plant in a pot, loses at an average annual rate of US$60 million since 2018.”

He then gave as an example the impact it has on the retirements. “We must add our retirees: 7% of the price of each pack of cigarettes goes entirely to ANSES through the Social Assistance Fund (FAS). In 2023 alone, 115 million dollars were not collected for this tribute. At current values ​​there are 600 thousand minimum pensions that could be covered annually just by meeting the interests of one person“Sáenz emphasized.

Sáenz to the deputies: “It is time to say enough to this privilege”

Regarding the negative effect it has on regional economies, he explained that more than 200 thousand people depend on national tobacco production and 80% of the raw material is exported, while Sarandí Tobacco Factory is the opposite case since spends US$40 million per year on tobacco imports “without buying a single kilo of local production,” said the governor.

As a consequence of the current fiscal policy, Sáenz pointed out that “the Special Tobacco Fund stops receiving resources for almost 200 million dollars a year, which translates into fewer cultivated hectares, less work and fewer exports.”

“It is worth remembering that this Government eliminated the Teacher Incentive Fund (FONID) and the Interior Transportation Compensation Fund, which in total represented 527 million dollars at the current exchange rate last year. Only by eliminating half of Mr. Tobacco’s privilege could this vital support for the inhabitant of the Interior have been maintained.r”, highlighted the provincial head.

Given this situation, he insisted on the need to end the benefits to “Mr. Tobacco.” “Gentlemen, it is time to say enough about this privilege. It is clear that it is not a fight of lobbies, but one fight between a person who does not want to give up his privileges, on one side, and on the other, the Argentines. “It’s that simple,” he remarked.

For Sáenz, this is “a fact of enormous institutional gravity that Congress can remedy today,” and he closed: “Hopefully they will take dimension of the problem and the relief in the adjustment for good citizens that ending the privilege of a few can mean.”