Joaquín Villarino on the royalty project: "Taxes the same act twice, which is inappropriate"

In an interview with the newspaper Pulso, the Executive President of the CM, Joaquín Villarino addressed the progress in Congress of the bill that creates a royalty on copper production associated with sales.

 

“The parliamentary motion approved in the Chamber of Deputies and Deputies suffers from multiple problems. It is an unconstitutional project that is also technically deficient. From this last perspective, it is surprising how lightly the same tax has been extended to very different realities, "he said.

 

In this context, Joaquín Villarino stated that the bill “does not consider that there is already a royalty on copper mining, it charges the same event twice, which is inappropriate; and practically doubles the tax burden of large copper mining, which is obviously not competitive or reasonable.

 

On the other hand, the union leader indicated that the bill will not take effect until the collection of the year 2025, due to the tax invariance approved by the National Congress in 2010. “This does not mean, however, that the State is not going to capture higher income derived from the price increase. The current royalty (IEM) has a variable rate that ranges from 5% to 14% as the operating margin increases. Therefore, at a higher price, without increasing costs to the same extent, the margin will increase and the tax rate will be increased ”.

 

“We have been clear in pointing out that it is legitimate for the country to evaluate the tax burden of its productive sectors, including mining. But in this debate, so important and fundamental for the future of the sector, it is necessary to be responsible and analyze in depth the competitiveness of our tax burden; as well as raising awareness of the effects of its increase ”, he concluded.