At 1pm today, Wednesday 24 October, the Executive Branch is scheduled to submit the tax reform bill to Congress, through the Senate, amidst complaints that taxes are being increased to cover up for excesses in political patronage by the PLD administrations. Despite the fact that the authorities have said that some of the suggestions made by several productive sectors were taken into account, the government reiterated that it expects to collect some RD$53 billion (2.5% of GDP), practically the same amount that they initially had originally foreseen.
Now it is up to the legislators to analyze the reform proposal for which the Senate president Reinaldo Pared Perez has already announced that they will create a joint commission to speed up the work so that it can be passed this year. The PLD has an almost absolute majority in the Senate, where the bill is expected to pass.
In search of a consensus, President Danilo Medina has held meetings with representatives of the transportation, manufacturing and finance sectors, encountering major opposition to maintaining the current high level of spending. Speaking to reporters at government headquarters yesterday, Tuesday October 23, Minister of Economy, Planning and Development Temistocles Montas refrained from specifying the suggestions the government had accepted. The minister said that during the process of discussions with the Economic and Social Council (CES), the conversation had focused on public spending.