Deputies of Morena ‘madrugan’ with new taxes in BC

On the last day of the year and with reproaches from the opposition, morenista deputies in the Baja California Congress approved changes in the Public Finance Law that increase taxes on fuels, hotels, motels, pawn shops, payroll taxes and digital platforms of lodging.

Lawmakers approved an increase of 5% on the taxable base of the sale of natural gas or derivatives and 2.5% on the sale of gasoline or petroleum products, explained the morenista Juan Manuel Molina in his speech in the plenary, according to the newspaper Reform.

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The deputies of Morena justified this increase – which could be charged to users – by saying that it is an environmental tax.

A new 5% tax was also established for lodging platforms such as Airbnb and another 5 and 7% for hotels and motels in the state, the media said. Zeta

Pawn shops will also have to pay a new 20% tax when they sell a product pawned by a citizen.

In interview for Political Animal, the PAN deputy Eva María Vásquez said that this proposal for new taxes was a “madruguete” because they were not considered on the agenda.

According to the deputy, The Board of Directors closed the regular session on December 31 to immediately start an extraordinary session (which was not planned) just to approve these initiatives.

Vásquez accuses that the initiatives voted and approved by the morenistas They did not previously go through the Political Coordination Board, the Treasury Commission, or the State Superior Audit. Bodies that had to have analyzed the initiatives because they were taxes.

He also says that not even the members of the Board of Directors knew their content, since even one of the members refrained from voting on that argument.

“The initiatives were never formally presented nor did we know their content, in a few words the constitutional and legal procedure that governs the entire legislative process was not complied with,” said the deputy.

According to Vásquez, both initiatives could take effect one day after their publication, but in these cases they are unaware If they contain transients that allow a period of time for their application, “the only thing we know is what was read yesterday.”

The deputy states that if these taxes are applied, state tourism will be affected, as well as the hotel industry and all the people who indirectly depend on it.

Finally, the PAN said its bank is analyzing the process to determine if they challenge the approval of the reforms.

“We would also do it because we are interested in the citizenship finding out what is happening (…) and knowing who owes all these types of increases,” he said.

The changes were approved by 14 votes, 12 of them from Morena deputies, and had two against the legislators Elí Topete de Movimiento Ciudadano and Eva María Vásquez of the PAN; the morenista Carmen Hernández abstained.

In the extraordinary session, the increase in the Personal Work Remuneration Tax (ISRTP), better known as Payroll Tax, was also approved by a majority.

With this measure, a tax of 2.43 to 3%, of taxation, will be passed on the tax that employers pay on the salary of workers, and for which various business sectors said they were against it.

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According to business chambers such as Coparmex, this tax would affect the attraction of investments to the entity, and consequently, the generation of jobs, becoming a loss of competitiveness in the state.

With information from Zeta, Notimex and Reforma (subscription required)