Ignacio Mendez, president of the Federation of Industrial Associations (FAI) says that Dominican business interests are behind the delay in Congress passing of the tax reform bill. He said several large companies prefer the status quo so they can keep their privileges and not have to compete on equal terms with other companies. He also attributed fault to the Executive Branch that has merely sent the bill to Congress and has not lobbied aggressively on its behalf. He also said that Congress is not without blame because it has fallen prey to the business group interests and not been able to make a decision and pass the bill that would be in the best interest of the majority of the Dominican people. He favors the bill that was sent to Congress by the National Planning Office and the Technical Secretariat. The bill proposes primarily to reduce import tariffs and increase the ITBIs tax.
