By María Josefina Arce
From this week until April 30, Cubans will have the opportunity to comply with a civic duty: the sworn declaration and payment of taxes corresponding to the fiscal year just concluded.
This is an exercise that is carried out in all nations and is of great importance to maintain the state's public expenditure, which is reverted to the benefit of citizens.
The Cuban Minister of Finance and Prices, Vladimir Regueiro Ale, has pointed out that the payment of taxes is the main source of the State budget, which guarantees the development of social programs.
This contribution makes it possible to support basic services to the population, as well as vital works for the country's development.
But it is also, according to experts, a tool for economic control, helps to reduce the fiscal deficit and has an impact on the improvement of macroeconomic balances.
In order to set the tax in our country, the principle of equity is also taken into account, it is distributed according to the payment capacities and protects those with lower incomes.
Special situations are also taken into account. For example during the 2021 campaign non-state economic actors who did not work in the previous year for six months or more because of the COVID 19 pandemic were exempted from payment of personal income tax.
It is expected that the current campaign, said the Cuban Minister of Finance and Prices, will have better results than the previous one, both for natural and legal persons in the state and non-state sectors.
For this purpose, all the conditions have been created, and to facilitate compliance with this tax duty, electronic mechanisms are being promoted, in operation since 2020 with the collaboration of the companies of the Informatics and Communications Group.
In addition to these options are the delivery through the mailbox located in the municipal instances of the ONAT, National Tax Administration Office, and by registered mail.
Although progress has been made in recent times, there is still a lack of tax culture in the country, hence the need for citizens to know the importance of their contributions to the state budget, which in the midst of difficult conditions strives to guarantee basic services to the population.
