Ecuador's Embattled President Launches Proposal To Cut Taxes

• Ecuadorean President Guillermo Lasso, facing a fresh push to oust him from power, announced on Thursday a proposal to cut tax for middle-income earners and small businesses, but the bill faces long odds due to deepening political instability.
• The conservative former banker submitted the proposal to Congress, where he lacks majority support, using a fast-track procedure that could prompt a vote within 30 days.
• Lasso's tax reform pitch comes as lawmakers prepare to vote on a measure to remove him from office, following allegations that he turned a blind eye to embezzlement, which he denies.
• The tax proposal would benefit some 340,000 taxpayers and reduce revenue to government coffers by about $195Mn, from the $17bn collected in taxes in 2022.
• Lasso stated that the $195Mn would remain in Ecuadorian households for health, education, or food expenses. The tax reform proposal aims to modify changes he proposed to lawmakers at the end of 2021, which increased taxes on individuals who earned more than $2,000 a month by reducing the amount of health, education and other costs they can deduct. Those earlier tax changes became law after the sharply divided Congress deadlocked, allowing them to enter into force without a vote.
• However, the economy ministry described Lasso's new proposal as more "progressive and fair" in a statement. The bill would also introduce a tax on companies involved in sports betting platforms, as well as on the players, plus another levy for and another on organizers of public shows including concerts.

(Source: Reuters)