The Senate commission that was studying the DR-CAFTA agreement has finished its work and given the go-ahead to put the legislation on the agenda for next week. Next Tuesday the senators will begin their work after the long weekend, and, according to the report in El Caribe, there are still a lot of ducks to get lined up before the pact can be law. The most important point is the fiscal package, described by the committee’s chairman Alejandro Santos, as an “agreement between the business community and the Executive in which the sources and resources that will be used to cover the loss of tax and tariff income that the government will lose as a result of the Agreement.” While it is possible that the exact figures are not known at this time, both the government and the business sector have carried out their own studies and their number differ by just a few billion pesos, in terms of eliminating taxes that put a halt on competitiveness in the marketplace. Both parties agree that to remove the exchange commission will cost RD$20 billion. According to the Senate committee, it is clear to everybody that these taxes cannot be removed until sources are found to replace the income and in so doing not fall under new sanctions from the IMF. Hugo Ramirez, the head of the Semper Foundation, told El Caribe reporters that “the only option is to sign an official pact that will permit an integral reform of the current legislation affecting commerce and services.” Ramirez said that there were 16 proposal for new legislation from the private sector, and the basis for all the new taxes will be centered in widening the VAT, the luxury taxes, new taxes on luxury cars and vehicles, taxes on interest earned on deposits and other complementary taxes. Included in the suggested VAT tax will be taxes on tuition in private schools, foodstuffs and brand-name medicines.