Colombia: Concern continues over the impact of the tax reform on basic goods

Published 2021년 4월 7일

Tridge summary

The Society of Farmers of Colombia (SAC) and Asocaña, along with their affiliated mills, are calling for clarity and broad debate on a proposed tax reform that could see products in the basic basket, such as chocolate, salt, sugar, and coffee, taxed with VAT. The unions are concerned about the potential impact on low-income households, who could face higher consumer prices for essential food items if the reform is approved. SAC's president, Jorge Enrique Bedoya, argues that increasing the VAT for these products could hurt the government and emphasizes the need for open discussion on the matter. Asocaña specifically worries about the impact of a 19% VAT on sugar, a staple in the family basket, and the financial burden it could put on low-income households.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Last Monday, the possibility was known that products of the basic basket such as chocolate, salt, sugar or coffee are taxed with VAT. The unions ask for clarity in the proposed text and a broad debate. Jorge Enrique Bedoya, president of the Society of Farmers of Colombia, SAC, in dialogue with La W, considered that increasing the VAT for some foods is "shooting himself in the foot", because nobody is going to say that chocolate, , sugar, salt and other products that farmers bring to the table of Colombians every day are not essential products. (Read: Doubts generated by the tax reform project) Although the leader understands that the Government says that it is going to return VAT to more than 4 million households, the SAC is extremely concerned about what happens to 6.5 million Colombian households whose income ranges between 1 and 3 SMLV, because they do not they would have no refund. He insisted that since 2018, when the first financing law was processed, that "the cost of food ...

Source: MXContexto