Reply #5: Venezuela gets busy and collects some taxes. This is going to be unpopular [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

with certain parts of the bidness community, for sure:

Venezuela Jan-Oct Tax Collection Up 21% On Year - Seniat

CARACAS -(Dow Jones)- Venezuela's Seniat tax office collected 9.4 trillion bolivars ($1=VEB1598) during the first ten months of this year, up 21% compared with the year-ago period, reported the Seniat on its Web site.

October collection reached VEB1 trillion, also up 21% compared with October 2002. October collection was 23% below the 1.3 trillion bolivar target for the month. Collection for the year through October is only 3% below target, said the Seniat.

The Seniat predicts 2004 non-oil tax collection of VEB15.2 trillion bolivars, or 8.5% of gross domestic product, according to the national budget.

The Seniat has been advancing a so-called "Zero Evasion" campaign against tax deadbeats, and the office has closed a number of large businesses that are behind on their taxes. The increase in tax collection compared to last year, curiously, comes amid a stinging recession. The economy shrank 18.5% during the first half of the year, and is expected to contract around 12% for the year as a whole.
(snip/...)

~~~~ link ~~~~