The viability of the Gold Marketing and Exporter sector in Colombia, as well as the jobs of thousands of workers participating in the formal mining value chain, would be at risk if the Gustavo Petro’s government decree project is completed, which, with the desire to improve the tax collection in 2025, increases self -retention rates and minimum bases to practice retention in the source in the country.
As will be remembered, with this, the national Government proposes, with a high ignorance of this activity and its impacts, that gold purchases go from a retention rate from 1%to 2.5%, which represents an increase of 150%. In addition, a self -retention rate for the extraction of gold and other precious metals of 4.5% is proposed, which represents a total of 7% for these two concepts.
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In this regard, the main International marketers of the country rejected the measure and assured that There is an unjustified and disproportionate increase that does not know the reality of the gold marketer activity.
According to the guild spokesman, César Díaz Guerrero, this “puts at risk the viability of an activity that allows, through transparent processes, generating currencies and facilitating the export of the mineral produced by small miners, as well as medium and large companies dedicated to this activity.”
And is that the Decree Project It would encourage illegal and informal mining, since it directly impacts the liquidity of formal mining companies, which would have to allocate up to 7% of their box in fiscal withholdings. It is a very complex load for the finances of any industry and that, in practice, puts at risk the sustainability of companies and would represent an informality incentive.
In addition, the impact would be even more critical when considering that many marketers would have to go to the financial sector to sustain the operation.
However, this is completely unfeasible, since The current margins of the sector are below 1.5% and do not allow additional financial costs to be absorbed. That is, there is no capacity to assume any increase without compromising the profitability and sustainability of the business. This would imply an imminent risk of definance of the legal marketing chain.
“International marketers that have been a great ally of the National Government in formalization processes are affected and in the search for better conditions for small miners. It is a currency generating sector, framed in processes with traceability and transparency, in alliance with financial entities,” said Díaz Guerrero.
Similarly, he stated that “measures such as this further promote the high informality that exists in the sector.”
The impact would also fall on the small and medium -sized miners who exercise the activity within the legality, because The proposed withholding model gravels twice: they must assume a retention when selling to the marketers and, at the same time, execute a self -retention at the time of invoicing.
The double tax discourages regulatory compliance and makes it economically unfeasible to remain within the legal framework, favoring informal or clandestine marketing mechanisms.
Gold exports, which in 2024 exceeded USD3,000 million, represent a key line for the national economy. In addition to contributing to an intensive sector in labor, these exports contribute to local development and generate important royalty income.
It is estimated that about 50% of these exports are made through international marketers.
“There is great ignorance of this industry. The operation margins are very low; Marketers operate with margins close to 1.5%. A 2.5% retention would make many operations unfeasible. This is a disproportionate measure, which affects formal marketing channels and, therefore, also the national economy through the decrease in royalties, currencies and other contributions from legal gold, ”said the representative of international marketers.
Before the panorama, the marketers – who buy the mining exploiters authorized in the Single Registry of Mineral Marketers (RUCOM) and market abroad – would be in unequal conditions in front of other market actors.
Precisely, they fulfill a central role in the formal gold chain in Colombia and allocate large resources to strengthen their systems that guarantee the traceability of the material and thus demonstrate a high degree of transparency before the control entities.
The spokesman considers that a fiscal policy should not impact and make unsustainable strategic sectors for the country. “For years, Colombia has been promoting formalization policies, in which marketers are a key ally. High impact measures, such as this, attempt against a legally constituted sector that guarantees royalties, formal jobs, good environmental practices and a better use of the country’s natural resources”, Concluded Díaz Guerrero.
The industry expects the National Government to open spaces for dialogue to know and evaluate the high impacts that this measure would have on a sector committed to legality and transparency.
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