American Chamber of Commerce president warns taxes will delay Free Trade

http://www.dominicantoday.com 15/12/06

Santo Domingo.- The president of the Dominican-American Chamber of Commerce, Kevin Manning, affirmed yesterday that, rather than burdening the population with additional taxes through a fiscal reform, what the government has to do is to eliminate unnecessary job posts that abound across all of the State entities.

Manning said that authorities should have in mind that the tax reform will affect the poor to a greater degree, and will delay entrance into the Free Trade Agreement with Central America and the United States (DR-CAFTA).

Given the negative effects to be born by the so-called fiscal ‘rectification’, Manning considered that the Congress should step aside from political interests and assume the necessary measures in defense of the people’s interest, because, as representatives for and by the people, legislators have the power to modify this proposal as well as next year’s budget.

As to the government, Manning considered that authorities must thrive in reducing the public payroll. “The government’s main issue should focus on reducing its expenditures.”

Should the government so do, said Manning, there would be no need for new taxes, which in his view will have a very negative impact on the Dominican economy.

Another disquieting aspect relates to the FTA. “We are also concerned because some of the taxes contradict the spirit of the DR-CAFTA. And since time is running out for implementing the trade accord, there is not much space in which to rectify this,” said the U.S. entrepreneur.