The meetings of the tax reform committee scheduled for Tuesday, September 11th were cancelled, although internally the legislators continue to work on the drafting of the final bill. The initiative seeks to increase income tax, make use of financial intermediaries as tax withholders and replace Sales Tax with Value Added Tax (VAT). The committee report will be ready next week and will consist of the updated text of the initiative. It should be noted that the document will also indicate the result of the vote on each of the amendments studied.

Consequently, the legislative process will face a period of two weeks of public consultation. Within the framework of this space, ministries, municipalities, public universities and state banks will be able to contribute their opinions and comments to the discussion of the bill. At the end of the public hearings, all rejected modifications may be reinstated for treatment in the committee studying the fiscal reform.

Because of this, it is estimated that the bill won’t advance in its formal legislative process for 15 days. Then, the presidency of the National Assembly will allow one day to introduce again the the modification proposals rejected in the last two rounds. The committee will have to resume the study of the initiative based on the list of modification proposals that arise on this occasion.

Once this stage has been completed, the regulations will be submitted to a first vote by the plenary Assembly. Before being approved in their second debate on the Chamber,s floor, deputies may consult the opinion of the Constitutional Court. Finally, the bill will be ready for presidential promulgation.