National tax collections continue to rise without tax increases, Correa says; credits the additional income to SRI efficiency

President Rafael Correa

President Rafael Correa says that tax income continues to rise despite the fact that no new taxes have been added in three years. “This is the result of greater efficiency in collecting the taxes that are owed,” he said on Saturday.

According to Correa, tax revenue has increased from 11% to 13.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) since 2012.

Ximena Amoroso, director of Ecuador’s Internal Revenue Service (SRI), said that “the January to October 2014 tax revneue increased 6% over the same period in 2013.  Amoroso says she expects tax renenue to top 14 billion dollars for the year.

In his Saturday comments, Correa claimed that some business owners misrepresent the facts about the amount of tax the government charges. “One of the problems is that they weren’t paying their taxes in the past and now, because of greater efficiency of the SRI, they are required to,” he said. He added that businesses often forget the value of various subsidies that the government offers, including those for gasoline and LP gas.

Amoroso claims that the per capita tax burden in Ecuador ranks in the lower half for all Latin American countries.