In the middle of the discussion for economic reactivationthe Minister of Finance, Ricardo Bonilla, provided more details of what will be the new tax reform that will be presented to Congress and that it will be part of a package of measures that seeks to provide tax incentives to companies.
The head of the economic portfolio pointed out that the tax will be a complement to tax incentives that were forgotten in the 2021 and 2022 reforms, such as, reduce the nominal corporate income tax rate, although it did not specify how much.
“This means that, if it is reduced, a credible space is generated for companies moving forward and not what we have today, which is a fixed rate in which everyone plays at having a very low effective rate. It is about bringing the effective rates closer to the nominal rate,” said the Minister of Finance.
Bonilla also announced that this package is aimed at generating stimuli and not increasing taxes. It is also considering looking at and reviewing the VAT on renewable energy and tourism.
The minister indicated that the tax will apply to the entire corporate sector, but the main objective is for the Dian to do the task of establishing what the assets of natural persons are and separating them from legal entities to know which is the final beneficiary of each of them. The objective It is to have a balance of the income tax that the Government collects from natural persons and legal entities.
In addition to the new tax reform, Bonilla also said that within this package of measures there is the expansion of the debt quota that was filed in Congress and of which he already sent an urgent message.
“We are talking about a package that is in the process of organization. Within that package, the debt quota has already been filed and presented to Congress to be honest about Colombia’s external debt, because in 2021 we are left with a debt quota, but with debts outside the quota. Today we are paying those debts and they do not make room for us. We are also paying debt service on those same debts. That is why today we have to know what debt Colombia has, which is expressed in bonds and agreements with multilaterals,” said Bonilla.
The plan also raises the idea of forced investments. Bonilla said that the scope of the agricultural system today is being analyzed and what space it leaves to include other sectors. “For now we are in the space to evaluate it and we are going to present to the President alternatives as to whether it is possible to expand forced investment or if it is better to carry out another similar operation that requires putting resources into a development bank,” said the minister.
