SOBRE LA REFORMA TRIBUTARIA ESTRUCTURAL QUE SE REQUIERE EN COLOMBIA Reflexiones y propuestas On the structural tax reform that is needed in Colombia Reflections and proposals

This article examines the characteristics of an equitable and structural tax reform. Taxation does not only determine revenue, but it also affects the productive apparatus and equitability. In Colombia, tax pressure is very low and resources are insufficient to provide essential public goods. The duty system should contribute to the consolidation of a “new economy”, as it is called by the government, which boosts industry, agriculture, and tourism, and which is less dependent on fossil fuels. Taxes should favor equitability, and so direct taxation should increase in a progressive manner, with a rate which rises as income increases. The recently passed tax reform improves revenue, but favor neither the new economy nor equitability, since it gave too much weight to V.A.T. and very little weight to income or wealth tax.