Lawyers Bartolomé Pujals and Lety Melgen say that Law 46-20 enacted in February 2020 by President Danilo Medina encourages money laundering. Both lawyers in the name of the political movement, “The Country We Want” (El Pais que Queremos) submitted a legal recourse of unconstitutionality against the law. They argue the law creates “a special tax system that facilitates the laundering of money derived from criminal acts and corruption, which could be exploited by public officials of the present government.”
Pujals and Melgen say the recently passed law violates Article 146 of the Constitution that bans corruption. They say the law is also in violation of other international commitments and agreements signed by the Dominican state. “Law No. 46-20 violates the provisions of Article 26.1 of the Constitution, as well as the right to equality provided for in Article 39 of the Constitution, by granting an unreasonable benefit to those who have kept all or part of their assets in hiding, regardless of the period of time, and only having to pay 2%, compared to the rest of the taxpayers who have operated under the rule of law,” says the recourse signed by Pujals and Melgen.
They consider that the enactment of this law creates a “moral risk”, inciting taxpayers to avoid complying with tax obligations, which is a fundamental duty according to Article 75.6 of the Constitution.
The document submitted by El País Que Queremos recalls that in recent history, prior to Law 46-20, the state has promulgated three tax amnesty laws (Laws Nos. 11-01, 183-07, 309-12), during electoral periods. It establishes that the PLD governments have used this type of legislation to obtain electoral benefits for the business class.
It also indicates that from the point of view of legislative effectiveness, this type of measure has proven not to have positive results.
Bartolomé Pujals is running for mayor of the National District for the Alianza Pais (AlPais) political party. He is a long time Green March (Marcha Verde) activist.
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Somos Pueblo
5 March 2020