The leaders of the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano, PRD, went to the public hearings yesterday, accompanied by economist Andy Dauhajre. Their purpose: To establish very clearly the party’s position regarding the new tax proposals. The PRD will not support any point of the proposal that implies new tax burdens affecting the already beleaguered poor. The delegation was headed by party president Ramon Alburquerque and party secretary general Orlando Jorge Mera. The administration had already warned that fiscal reform is vital in order for the Dominican Republic to re-launch itself along a path of sustainable economic growth. As reported in El Caribe, Alburquerque said that the proposed fiscal reforms would hurt those who paid taxes while helping those who never pay a penny to the government. He said: “In a country with so many taxes that are not collected, to create more taxes will just put more pressure on those that do pay… taking those that pay to the edge of bankruptcy and not doing anything to those that do not pay.”
The first day of public hearings showed that nobody, according to the Diario Libre, wanted to bear the weight of the tax reform. The tourist sector want 0% VAT or something no greater than 8%; the bankers do not want to see taxes on savings accounts; and housewives don’t want more VAT taxes on things like detergent, disposable diapers, sanitary napkins, toilet paper, toothpaste or soap. Workers in the tourist sector say that the new taxes will lead to more hotel closings and firings, while the political parties, like Unidad del Pueblo and Nueva Alternativa, are asking for reduced government spending and the elimination of corruption within the administration. None of the people that addressed the Finance Commission of the Chamber of Deputies yesterday wanted the legislature to pass the proposal as it was sent to the Congress by the President. A total of 24 entities addressed the Congress and they were unanimous in their rejection of any new taxes or the broadening of the VAT tax base. A representative from the farming sector asked the deputies not to approve a tax reform package that was being promoted by “foreign interests, from countries where agriculture gets US$1.0 billion in subsidies each year.”