The Chamber of Deputies, after declaring the fiscal amnesty bill urgent yesterday Tuesday 4 December, approved it in two consecutive readings, exactly as sent down by the Senate. Diario Libre said that the proposal that declares the prosecution and punishment of tax evasion and fraud as high priority was approved by a vote of 99 deputies in the first reading and by 105 deputies after the second reading, and it will now go to the Executive Branch for its publication. It was not even debated by the deputies.
According to this bill, the tax administration will present to the National Congress, within six months, a rough draft of a legislative proposal for a law that speeds up and strengthens the measures of prevention, control and punishment for infractions of the tax system. Taxpayers with debts because of investigations for counterfeiting or falsifying the use of Fiscal Invoice Numbers are not eligible for the tax amnesty, and neither is anyone under investigation for false customs declarations. Also, the fact that a taxpayer accepts the present amnesty does not represent in any way a limitation of the penal responsibility for having committed penal offenses.
The full Chamber approved the report submitted by the Hacienda Commission that is chaired by Senator Tommy Galan and the 23 senators present voted their approval. The amnesty will be established for the payment of Income Tax, the tax on the Transfer of Industrialized Goods and Services (ITBIS) and the Real Estate Transfer Tax.
As passed in Congress, the Tax Amnesty bill covers past due payments of penalties and interest charges on due Income Tax, Transfer of Industrial Goods and Services (ITBIS) and Property Tax. The arrears will be erased for those paying the total principal that was originally due within 20 days of the approval by the DGII of the amount to be paid. The bill also stipulates stronger clauses to penalize those in arrears with the DGII in the future.
With the amnesty, the government hopes to raise RD$2.5 billion and increase the number of those who regularly pay these taxes.
The bill now returns to the Presidency for the signing by President Danilo Medina and publication.