| | |  Business News | September 2009 
Factbox - Mexico Tax Reform Debate
 Reuters
go to original
September 24, 2009
Mexican lawmakers are debating President Felipe Calderon's proposal to raise taxes and lower the government's dependence on Mexico's declining oil industry. Calderon is trying to head off a threatened downgrade of Mexico's debt rating, but the conservative leader needs support from the opposition to pass his proposal.
The cornerstone of the plan is a new 2 percent sales tax on all products, including currently exempt food and medicine. Calderon also wants to raise income taxes. Congress has an official deadline of Oct. 31 to pass new tax measures for next year.
The following are the latest developments compiled from Reuters stories and Mexican media reports:
• Opposition parties said they would reject the new sales tax during testimonies of the social development minister in the lower house of Congress and Finance Minister Agustin Carstens in the Senate, El Universal reported on Wednesday.
• Former leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador promised to lead street protests against Calderon's budget proposal, Reforma newspaper reported on Tuesday.
• The leading opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, rejected the proposed new sales tax, dealing a blow to the government's efforts to reduce Mexico's dependence on waning oil output.
(Editing by Andrew Hay)
|
|
| |
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us