The Tax Reform passed under the authority of the law

ECUADOR - In Brief 29 Nov 2021 by Magdalena Barreiro

---

Ironically, it was the UNES party that allowed the tax reform to become an effective bill, to be applied next January. The bill passed by the authority of the law without changes since legislators could not reach an agreement either for its approval, its rejection or its archival. Legislators who voted against the bill (all blocs except UNES and BAN --Creo´s coalition), claim there was an obscure pact between the government and UNES, which UNES emphatically denies. The bill was already published in the Official Register. But legislators frustrated by the decision by UNES are threatening to seek ways to abolish the law. They have a few ways - including a request of protection from the Constitutional court – to pursue this end, but none of them are fast or easy, and according to constitutional experts, in all of them the president of the republic has a strong possibility to win. Given this scenario, the government could raise around $1.9b from this reform over the coming years, complying with the requirement under the current IMF program.