Overview
- The administration’s 203‑page Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development bill, sent Wednesday, starts a fight over tax cuts and looser project rules.
- The plan would cut the corporate income tax to 23 percent, create an eight‑month 10 percent substitute tax on retained profits, and open a window to declare and repatriate offshore assets.
- It also offers a 25‑year tax lock for large foreign investors and a $1.4 billion a year credit to reward formal hiring, with tighter limits on new tuition‑free university slots and tougher penalties for fake medical leave.
- Environmental changes include state paybacks if an approved permit is later annulled and an easier path to relocate fish‑farm concessions by skipping some formal impact reviews, which could speed projects.
- Without a majority, the government is courting the Partido de la Gente and a libertarian right bloc as center‑left parties vow to vote no, calling it a hidden tax reform that could cut revenue by at least $4 billion a year.