Venezuela’s tax collection increased by 3% in the first two months of the year compared to the same period in 2022, according to data released this Wednesday by the superintendent of the National Integrated Customs and Tax Administration Service (Seniat), José David Cabello.
Between January and February 2023, the country collected, at the official exchange rate for this period, 818.99 million dollars, when in the first two months of last year the income was 599.13 million dollars, according to the exchange rate disclosed by the Bank. Central Venezuela (BCV).
These collections include income obtained through Income Tax (ISLR), Value Added Tax (VAT), customs and “other internal income,” according to Cabello through his Twitter account.
Economists affirm that this improvement in collection is due to greater economic activity.
However, the private sector warns of a “fiscal voracity” due to the increase in taxes, which has led merchants and small and medium-sized industrialists to informality, according to the businessmen.
The Venezuelan Confederation of Industrialists (Conindustria) assures that one of the main problems affecting manufacturing activity is the “excessive” taxes.
For their part, public workers, who have staged multiple protests since the beginning of the year, have criticized the Government for not increasing the minimum wage, from 130 bolivars, equivalent to $5.33 at the official exchange rate, despite the fact that the income of the nation.