The Senate approved the extension of the tax moratorium

08/13/2020 - 15:40

• Clarín.com
• Politics

In another virtual session, the Chamber of Senators approved this Thursday the bill to extend the tax moratorium. Juntos por el Cambio did not go along, arguing that it benefited the Oil Combustibles company, owned by Cristobal López. The law was approved around midnight with 41 affirmative votes and 28 against.

The extension of the moratorium will allow freelancers, monotributistas and companies to access a payment plan for tax and pension debts accumulated until July 31.

After 10 pm, Senator Esteban Bullrich described the project as an "amnesty" for Cristóbal López, anticipating that they will not accompany the initiative and that they will present a minority opinion. "It is a tailored suit for a criminal who stole from Argentines," said the former Minister of Education.

The Senate debates the extension of the tax moratorium. Photo: AFP

"The debt of 8 billion pesos, which at current value is doubled, we are forgiving it," said Bullrich. He added: "A fraud of this size deserves the full weight of the law because the money was also used to compare media  (...) There is an end to favoritism and privilege." Luis Naidenoff pointed to his turn: "It is a rescue for the friends of power."

Minutes after Bullrich, Senator Oscar Parrilli took the floor: "Hearing your position against the moratorium based on Cristóbal Lépez makes me ashamed of myself ." Parrilli accused Juntos por el Cambio of lying with Oil's debt data and singled out Mauricio Macri for "laundering $ 37 million from his brother in 2016."

Senator K said that there is "special fury" from JxC against Cristóbal López from whom "Macri tried to take away the companies." He added: "This moratorium is for everyone, for the Argentine Mail, for Caputo, for Cristóbal López, for Vicentin."

Finally, Parrilli questioned the ruling of the Buenos Aires Federal Chamber that revoked Judge María Servini's order to analyze the telephone communications of Macri and his former officials for a period of three and a half years. Servini is carrying out a case against Macri for a complaint by the businessmen Cristóbal López and Fabián De Sousa.

José Mayans, from Formosa, from the Frente de Todos, concluded by addressing the Cambiemos senators: "They are trying to overthrow the government."

New ambassadors

First, the senators approved the appointment of new ambassadors. This is Patiño Mayer, whose destination will be Hungary ; Ricardo Alfonsín, for Spain , and Mateo Capitanich, for Nicaragua .

Later, the regional treaty on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean was approved.

"We have to protect biodiversity and ecosystems to avoid undue contact between animals and humans, which was what generated this pandemic," said Gladys González, senator of Juntos por el Cambio and head of the Commission on Environment and Sustainable Development , by defending the "Escazú Agreement". 

In addition, an agreement was approved between the Argentine Republic and the People's Republic of China on the establishment of a Chinese Cultural Center in the country, and another on Cinematographic Cooperation between the Argentine Republic and the State of Israel.

The members of the Upper House unanimously supported the bill on the sustainability and productive reactivation of the national tourist activity, and also the  extension of the Citrus Emergency Law.

Budget Expansion 

The senators approved, with 67 affirmative votes and 1 against, the 2020 Budget expansion law, which seeks to address the social and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

"It is very important to save the situation in 2020 and then see how to reduce the deficit we have," said José Mayans , the head of the Frente de Todos bloc.

Meanwhile, Carlos Caserio, from Cordoba, said that the new resources "would be recovered by their own collection, profits from the Central Bank and financing." "Therefore, despite the crisis this budget is footwear," he bet. 

The budget initiative authorizes the Government to increase expenditures for an amount of almost $ 1.9 trillion, of which 80% will be allocated to the implementation of productive, labor and social programs with the aim of alleviating the consequences of the pandemic.

Total expenses will increase by $ 1,859,582 million with an increase of 33.6% of the current budget, and the total projection of expenses for this year will reach $ 7.3 billion.

As argued by the ruling party, the expansion of expenses will be financed, in part, with resources from tax collection for $ 642,844 million and the rest with the income of the Central Bank and use of financial sources.

Crosses for the review of the transfer of judges

Senators from the ruling party and the opposition met in the session this Thursday due to the decision of the judge in the federal administrative litigation Alejandra Biotti, who ordered the body to suspend the treatment of the requests for agreement of the members of the Buenos Aires Federal Chamber Leopoldo Bruglia and Pablo Bertuzzi , who carry out corruption cases against Cristina Kirchner. 

"The ruling party will be responsible for a decision to move forward, to breach or violate not only the regulations but also the court order," warned Luis Naidenoff, from Together for the Change of Formosa.

Naidenoff added: "We may or may not like a ruling, but they are met. There are resources to reverse the decision of a judge, we cannot allege a breach because it is a dangerous message, that is why I ask that the reading of the messages be withdrawn. 58 and 60 (on the review of the transfers of those judges) ".

In response, the Senator of the Frente de Todos Oscar Parrilli assured that the ruling "has errors" and said that the Senate must "vindicate its powers" in the face of a ruling "that is not final." "Trying not to enter the treatment is like telling the sun not to come out," he ironically.

In its ruling, Biotti considered that "it corresponds to order the Honorable Senate of the Nation -as an interim measure- to suspend the treatment of the requests of Agreement of Leopoldo Oscar Bruglia and Pablo Daniel Bertuzzi", two of the judges whose appointments ordered to review the Council of the Magistracy from a request made by the representative of the Executive Power Gerónimo Ustarroz.

The details of the moratorium and criticism

The project had been approved a few weeks ago by the Chamber of Deputies with the support of the Frente de Todos and its allies, while the Together for Change interblock resolved to abstain.

Throughout that debate, although the ruling and opposition deputies agreed on the need to approve a moratorium for companies, in Together for Change they decided not to accompany with their vote because it made it a condition to exclude Oil Combustibles from benefits , with the argument that it is a company that is in bankruptcy and has a case for withholding of taxes.

The project -now approved- pursues the objective of improving tax collection, which was seriously affected by the economic crisis generated by the coronavirus pandemic.

It also establishes that plans between 48 and 120 installments can be accessed to regularize accumulated debts until July 31. In addition, taxpayers may adhere to the moratorium until October 31 and must pay the first installment on November 16.

Social security debts may be paid in a period of between 48 and 60 installments, while for tax obligations the terms are 96 or 120 installments.

The interest rate of the installment payment plan will be 2% per month until January 2021 and then a variable rate will be applied.

Large companies in the next 24 months will not be able to distribute dividends, carry out operations with securities to circumvent exchange regulations or access the exchange market to make payments to related entities, among other issues. 

AFG