To avoid price hikes for the people
WILLEMSTAD - Giselle Mc William, Member of Parliament for the MAN/PIN party, has raised concerns about the Minister of Finance's public statements regarding Curoil's sales tax debt of over 80 million to the government. The government's apparent intention to exempt Curoil from its obligations has caused consternation in the community. However, according to Mc William, the minister is once again distorting the truth and deceiving the public.
The Council of Ministers made a principled decision and forwarded Curoil's petition letter to both the Legislative Legal Affairs (WJZ) and the Tax Affairs Sector for advice. Considering the ongoing negotiations for a new operator in the short term, a conclusion should have been reached, especially regarding the impact of paying import duties on the concerned products. Consequently, the government instructed its legal department to prepare a change in the law, ensuring a 0% tariff for all products that Curoil needed to import.
In a letter dated September 16, 2019, addressed to the Council of Ministers, Curoil requested maintaining the 0% import duty applied to LSD and ULSD for all other fuel products due to the non-operation of Pdvsa/ISLA at our refinery.
The Customs Administration, noting that the official retroactive force of the tax law change had not been received, continued invoicing Curoil for import taxes on all necessary products. Curoil did not pay these, adhering to the principled decision of the Council of Ministers. Additionally, these invoices were not forwarded to the Bureau of Telecommunications and Post (BTP) by Customs for inclusion in the fuel price calculations for the local market.
It is essential to note that the entry tax on imported fuel for local consumption has never contributed to the government's revenue for over 100 years. Therefore, there is no issue of "loss" in government revenue.
The MAN/PIN party urges Cabinet Pisas 2 to have legal departments (WJZ and Tax Affairs Sector) collaborate with the Customs Chief, who has already been working on the requested law change since 2019 through a notice. They must present the law change to parliament within six months for it to come into force retroactively from 2019.
The MAN/PIN party urgently calls on the Minister of Finance to appear in parliament and explain the exemption of over 3 million in taxes, which goes against the law. This action is a disadvantage to the people. "Stop hiding and provide answers to parliamentary questions about the law the Minister ordered for the 'forgiveness.'"
