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ECUADOR - Tax Reform List

* ECUADOR

Tax Reform List
Government hopes bill will address the international crisis and stimulate the economy

President Rafael Correa presented the tax reform bill as a measure for coping with the international crisis. The initiative has four themes: balancing the external sector, channeling private savings toward investment, promoting social justice, and countering tax evasion. Included in the itemized package are measures to collect a 12% VAT on paper imported for use by newspapers and magazines, increasing the foreign exchange tax of outflows from 1 to 2%, the creation of a tax on dividends from shareholders in for-profit companies and a minimum tax on companies to pay for public infrastructure. The president also ruled that Ecuador is undergoing a recession, "so there is a slowdown in growth, similar to the two previous quarters," said Correa, placing economic growth this year at about 2%, calling it an acceptable level in the context of the crisis. The bill will be brought before the National Assembly today.
Aug-27-2009 04:08pm