Enrique Bendaña, president of the Center for Regulation, Standards and Communication Studies (Cerneco), rejected any increase in Paraguay’s tax burden while tax evasion and public spending he considers unjustified persist. The organization says the government should prioritize enforcement and better management before demanding more from compliant taxpayers.
“We refuse to accept a tax increase while the budget contains irrational or unfair spending,” Bendaña said. He said the measure would penalize businesses and workers who already meet their obligations without addressing structural weaknesses in the public accounts.
The executive said the sector has information that about 50% of business owners do not pay taxes. The statement was presented as an unverified estimate, without details of the methodology or an indication of an independent statistical source in the information released. As a result, the figure does not make it possible to determine precisely whether it refers to companies, business owners, all taxes or a specific segment.
For Bendaña, the difference between formal and informal taxpayers creates unfair competition. Instead of raising taxes, he proposes combating tax noncompliance, reviewing state spending and implementing long-term reforms.
The discussion also involves the imbalance in the Caja Fiscal, Paraguay’s public-sector retirement and pension system. Bendaña called it unacceptable for the population to bear the cost of management problems through indirect taxes, especially the Value-Added Tax (VAT), which applies to consumption and is paid by people at different income levels.
“It is not fair for the entire population to have to pay public employees’ pensions” through VAT, the Cerneco president said. The criticism places at the center of the debate the combination of low tax collection from some taxpayers, spending considered excessive and the need to finance public-sector pension benefits.
Based on the information available, Bendaña has not presented an alternative proposal with targets, deadlines or specific measures to reduce evasion. Cerneco’s position is therefore to reject new taxes and support administrative and pension reforms before any increase in tax collection.