The Legislative Assembly approved in second debate a bill that aims to tax in the country the sale and self-consumption of imported or locally produced cement.
The initiative, which was approved in the first debate in the Assembly in mid-February and is still pending approval by the Executive Branch, establishes that the tax will be on imported cement produced nationally, in bags or in bulk, for sale or self-consumption, of any kind, whose destination is the consumption and marketing of the product nationally.
The construction union of Guatemala states that construction costs have increased by about 6% since the entry into force in January of a tax on the distribution of cement.
Since the start of the charging of a $0.66 tax per bag of cement distributed, representatives from cement companies have reported a drop in sales.
Pelayo Llarena, president of the Chamber of Construction, told Elperiodico.com.gt that "...
The Constitutional Court has ruled as unfounded the suits on unconstitutionality filed by cement companies and left in place a tax of $0.65 on the distribution of each sack of cement.
The Constitutional Court decided to maintain the tax of $0.65 per sack of cement as indicated by the reform approved for the Law of Specific Tax on the Distribution of Cement under the fiscal year 2015 of the National Budget.
The Foundation for Development in Guatemala argues that there is a lack of technical justifications for new taxes and lack of transparency in approving the 2015 budget.
From a statement issued by the Foundation for the Development of Guatemala (FUNDESA):
The Foundation for the Development of Guatemala - FUNDESA - expressed concern about the non-transparent way in which the General Budget of the Nation for 2015 was approved, and the lack of technical studies to support various tax increases, including both the one applied to telephony and the distribution of cement, as well as the excessive increase in royalties.
The argument is that the tax on cement will increase the cost of housing by at least 6% and the tax on phones will directly affect users of prepaid telephone lines.
From a statement issued by the Chamber of Industry of Guatemala:
The Chamber of Industry of Guatemala emphasizes that even though it promptly denounced the risk of lack of transparency and accountability of the state budget for Fiscal Year 2015, it has been approved and will lead to negative impacts on the population.
In order to finance the 2015 budget, Congress has approved a tax of $0.65 for the distribution of each sack of cement weighing 42.5 kg and the same amount for each mobile or fixed telephone line.
Between the two taxes it is hoped that a total of approximately $2,607 million will be raised to finance the General Budget of the Nation in 2015.
In the case of taxes on mobiles and fixed telephone lines, "...
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