The Superior Court of Justice of Neuquén (TSJ) rejected the request of the business chambers of San Martín de los Andes to suspend, as a precautionary measure, the road tax approved by the city’s Deliberative Council. What it will do now is analyze whether the ordinance is constitutional or not.
What was established in San Martín was the charge of 4.5% on the value of gasoline and, in addition, a “contribution” rate for supermarkets, hypermarkets, wholesalers, banks and insurance companies.
The Association of Tourist Guides, the Chamber of Guides and Sports Fishing Professionals, the Hotel and Gastronomic Business Association, the Real Estate Chamber and the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Tourism filed a lawsuit before the TSJ against the municipality, opposing, they said, this «true tax disguised as a rate that will be paid by any person in the opportunity to acquire liquid fuels for any reason at retailers located in the territory of the Municipality of San Martin de los Andes; and the establishment of a “contribution” that businesses located within the municipal ejido must pay.
The attorney general, José Gerez, had already recommended to the TSJ in his opinion not to give rise to the precautionary measure. He stated that the Provincial Constitution grants the municipalities powers to impose fees and taxes, according to article 273 and concluded his analysis with that “there are not sufficient reasons that enable the Judiciary to adopt a ultima ratio solution” such as the measure they requested. the cameras.
The president of the court, Soledad Gennari, and the four members, German Busamia, Alfredo Elosú Larumbe, Evaldo Moya and Gustavo Mazieres, stated in their resolution that they will study the constitutionality of the ordinance that approved the rate, but They will not suspend it momentarily.
They stated: «the opinion of the attorney general is shared that in this initial stage of the process, “The imputed constitutional transgressions cannot be discerned with the degree of certainty essential for the favorable progress of precautionary protection.”
Road Tax: San Martín is the only municipality that implemented it
The application of road fuel tax is on pause in at least six municipalities in the province. San Martín de los Andes is the only one that has it running.
The removal of the subsidy to transportation provided by the national government Last December he had the Neuquén municipalities evaluate the application of the rate. It involves the collection of an aliquot of the 4.5% in gasoline that will be transferred to the specific fund.
Neuquén capital is one of the cities that regulated it but has not yet activated it.
