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Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz met with Jesús “Gardy” Colón Berlingeri, chairman of the Municipal Revenue Collection Center (CRIM by its acronym in Spanish) governing board, and CRIM Executive Director Reinaldo Paniagua Látimer this week to discuss ways to deal with the controversial inventory tax, including a five-year freeze.
While the business sector wants to repeal the tax due to its high costs, municipalities have objections because the tax is an important source of revenue.
“One of the key topics we discussed, which is highly relevant at this time, is the inventory tax in the municipal structure,” Paniagua said. “The chairman of the CRIM governing board has proposed several ideas that align with what Governor Jenniffer González has publicly suggested, as well as the positions of the [leaders] of the House and Senate. However, there are still some points that need clarification regarding how we will manage what is seen as an initiative to replace this tax with other sources of revenue.”
He said the idea of freezing the inventory for five years has the support of all parties involved in the negotiations.
“During the five-year period, a committee will be formed, consisting of representatives from the Legislative Assembly, municipalities, CRIM, and the executive branch,” Paniagua said. “We hope that, despite previous unsuccessful attempts to get alternatives approved over the years, we can now successfully implement solutions to replace this tax.”
“Repeatedly, we have heard the longstanding concerns from the commercial sector about the unfairness of having to pay this tax on unsold items year after year,” the official added. “We are in complete agreement that this is not fair, and we have alternatives to propose to the Legislative Assembly and the governor for addressing this issue.”
Paniagua also noted that there are other bills currently being presented in the Legislature, both in the House and Senate, and they had a detailed discussion about all of them.
“We see that the Senate president is open to the needs of the municipal structure, as has always been the case,” he said. “We hope that in these four years, our work can proceed efficiently and effectively, ensuring that all important issues for the municipalities are addressed. This is essential for them to continue providing services to citizens and to stabilize their finances, which have been adversely affected.”
