Executive Calls for National Agreement Amid Crisis: Deputies Pushes for Tax on ‘Super Rich’
Chile
28 mayo 2020

The Executive has called for a ‘national agreement’ to address the crisis caused by coronavirus. Interior and Finance Ministers Gonzalo Blumel and Ignacio Briones, respectively, will create a cross-sector committee to work on this issue. Meanwhile, the Chamber of Deputies has passed a bill of agreement requesting the Executive to levy a tax on the wealthy to finance the basic emergency income fund. It should be noted that this type of bill is not binding.

With respect to the Executive’s cross-sector agreement plan, Minister Briones stated that they were seeking an agreement on issues such as employment and economic recovery, and deadlines looking forward to the next two years.

With the aim of forming a cross-cutting alliance to generate consensus at the national level, Blumel will lead talks with relevant political figures to form a cross-sectoral alliance for national consensus building, while Briones will be in charge of working with the finance committees from both chambers and recruiting former finance ministers and economists. Finally, Development Minister Sebastián Sichel will be in charge of the social aspects of the initiative.

Within this framework, Unión Democrática Independiente (ruling alliance), has drafted a proposal to be submitted to the president in the next few days, called “From Crisis to Hope: Social Urgencies and Economic Revival”. The initiative includes short- and medium-term measures, including extending emergency family income for an additional three months, tax cuts for family members and businesses, and labor reform to promote employment. 

Meanwhile, the Chamber of Deputies passed by 85 votes in favor, 19 against and 40 abstentions, a bill driven by Karol Cariola (PC – opposition) calling on the President to impose a 2.5% tax on the “super rich” to finance the basic emergency income fund. The idea is to raise revenues by approximately US$6 billion to “sustain a Basic Emergency Income above the poverty line (US$419.851 for a family group of three) for six months, without differentiating between formal and informal workers”. 

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