1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:03,359 Thirty- nine minutes of wedding. Yesterday I was by the new hotel that 2 00:00:03,399 --> 00:00:06,040 they' re doing Ling. I have to be world class, an impressive 3 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:10,160 thing. Okay. Yesterday I was invited to an activity of the Dominican Association 4 00:00:10,199 --> 00:00:16,359 of Rum Producers to meet going to series of interesting information. You know that 5 00:00:16,399 --> 00:00:20,239 we are engaged in the words reformation You are going to hear a lot and 6 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:25,399 you will see many weddings and many messes with the seals and all this to 7 00:00:25,519 --> 00:00:30,440 distract our minds in what happens the Attribute Reform, without you reforming it, 8 00:00:31,519 --> 00:00:34,759 not raising taxes. I see a lot of people making a proposal that won 9 00:00:34,799 --> 00:00:38,759 ' t listen to anyone. I' ve got friends on that farting the 10 00:00:38,759 --> 00:00:47,399 moon. But what is true is that the Dominican Republic. I was surprised 11 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:51,520 that in such a short time so many tax increases have been made constantly. 12 00:00:57,039 --> 00:01:00,079 I thought that in the last thirty- fifty years nothing more or if two 13 00:01:00,159 --> 00:01:04,480 as three or four foll more than seven there are neither taxed moments. And 14 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:08,560 what I didn' t know was that every time the state wants to go 15 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:15,599 for money, it goes to the safe, it goes not to the romo, 16 00:01:15,599 --> 00:01:18,719 to the romo. I think we talked about it once, but I 17 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:26,000 didn' t know that rum had such a high tax burden after gasoline. 18 00:01:27,239 --> 00:01:30,959 For what you have imposed on me pay on this pallet for a blunt pot 19 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:37,000 when you buy a brand of any rum, but that of the cheap rum 20 00:01:37,079 --> 00:01:42,040 from which you the band we don' t drink anyone. Sixty percent of 21 00:01:42,159 --> 00:01:49,480 the amount you pay for the bottle is taxed sixty sixty percent. Erron is 22 00:01:49,519 --> 00:01:53,480 more expensive, it' s a fifty percent tax and we' re the 23 00:01:53,599 --> 00:02:02,799 country that collects the most taxes in the region by rum taxes So, for 24 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:07,120 the last twenty years, every time you' re going to get your hands 25 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:12,520 on the tax issue, we' re going to break and beer and there 26 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:15,960 ' s a series of taxes that have to see, for example, the 27 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:19,680 amount of alcohol that the drink has. That' s why there were companies 28 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:24,719 that made a reengineering in terms of products that could charge less tax on the 29 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:30,080 drinks they produce. In the particular case of beer, why light beer appeared 30 00:02:30,439 --> 00:02:35,159 and why it was given so much primacy. This is obviously a tax issue. 31 00:02:35,719 --> 00:02:38,520 It had nothing to do with how consumer habits are changing. I followed 32 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:44,159 that process a lot because it seemed to me that there was something in the 33 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:46,919 two thousand three that I didn' t understand. But already after explaining all 34 00:02:46,039 --> 00:02:50,520 this, I understood it quite well. Now, back to Ron, what 35 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:54,599 the Dominican Association of Ron Producers explained yesterday. Well, they, as a 36 00:02:55,000 --> 00:03:01,560 sector, have been able to identify a number of issues that have had a 37 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,879 negative impact on industry. Although it is true that the Dominican rum industry has 38 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:10,319 grown significantly in exports and exports rum to seventy countries of all the rum they 39 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:15,400 produce, they have to pay a significant amount of taxes to the state. 40 00:03:16,199 --> 00:03:21,479 The state collects from all the money it collects. I think the fifth economic 41 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:24,960 activity that more money pays the fifth. The fourth is the sector, the 42 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:30,080 alcoholic beverage sector. Five percent of those collected represent alcoholic beverages and the Dominican 43 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:38,439 Republic and have a number of sheaths that impact. In other words, it 44 00:03:38,479 --> 00:03:45,639 is not pure and simply that rum is produced with molasses, water and cane 45 00:03:45,759 --> 00:03:49,879 and cane and sheath, that is, it has a horizontal impact on the 46 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,199 significant and very important economy. Then, in the two thousand and twelve there 47 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:59,319 was a staggered increase in the tax that paid the rum of fifty- five 48 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:01,560 percent and still in all in four years. In the two thousand and twenty 49 00:04:01,759 --> 00:04:06,159 - one, the reform proposal that this government had very much, but they 50 00:04:06,199 --> 00:04:10,159 did so in a phased manner every year. In two thousand twenty- one 51 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,639 the proposal had to increase by fifty percent, but suddenly it was paying, 52 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:19,800 if it was paying. If he was being shot with a hundred pesos at 53 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:24,120 a stroke, he was going to take a hundred and fifty pesos so that 54 00:04:24,199 --> 00:04:27,199 people, more or less, have an idea and say the industry is good. 55 00:04:27,399 --> 00:04:30,199 The impact of the reform of two thousand twelve historically already leaves us with 56 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:35,480 evidence. It leaves us with an idea of how not to do, because 57 00:04:35,519 --> 00:04:44,199 the effect is quite contrary to what is sought. Many will say well, 58 00:04:44,439 --> 00:04:47,879 because that' s blunt and blunt then and damages and so on. It 59 00:04:47,959 --> 00:04:51,879 ' s nice to put a lot of tax on it so people consume less 60 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,800 rum and it sounds great. Maybe for those who don' t drink. 61 00:04:57,560 --> 00:04:59,439 The problem is that the one I drink is going to keep drinking. And 62 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:03,279 there you open two windows. First, the window of circumvention opens and the 63 00:05:03,519 --> 00:05:10,879 window of smuggling and elevation opens and what has happened in the last twelve years 64 00:05:10,959 --> 00:05:17,240 with the RON sector? Well, Ron' s production companies have seen a 65 00:05:17,319 --> 00:05:24,680 significant decrease in the amount of rock in the cheapest segment they sell that is 66 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:29,839 placed on the market, because that demand has been supplied by counterfeit products, 67 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:39,839 by contraband products that do not guarantee any quality and that smuggled product does not 68 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:44,480 generate revenue to the state. Because what has happened in the last twelve years 69 00:05:44,519 --> 00:05:47,480 that, instead of increasing state revenue, what has happened is quite the opposite. 70 00:05:49,759 --> 00:05:57,879 The state collects less. They make some layers of the categories that RON 71 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:02,879 producers have less competitive and we already know that there are liquor houses in the 72 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:12,639 country that have discontinued the they manufacture certain products because they are not really competitive 73 00:06:12,639 --> 00:06:17,720 when you go to the market and you crazy a tax plane exactly and the 74 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:23,879 other worse part that we saw it. And we saw it in the two 75 00:06:23,879 --> 00:06:30,160 thousand twenty, eight years after the reform that it recorded with fifty- five 76 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:38,759 percent more tax on rum and we saw the counterfeiting and the number of deaths 77 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:42,759 between twenty and twenty- one bo four hundred dead Dominican Republic product and not 78 00:06:43,199 --> 00:06:46,720 only that the number of people who were victimized and survived, but with terrible 79 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:58,319 sequelae of consuming or delivering it for serving it adulterated or counterfeit drinks. So 80 00:06:58,879 --> 00:07:01,360 what does the industry want? Well, the state that is in the process 81 00:07:01,439 --> 00:07:10,199 of reviewing, of one of a package of reforms or of or tax increases 82 00:07:10,199 --> 00:07:15,199 that take into account the history of past decisions and the effect that it has 83 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:20,120 had, that more than positive for the state and for the industry, has 84 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:26,839 been completely harmful, because it has generated two things. First, little competitiveness 85 00:07:27,279 --> 00:07:33,079 and, secondly, a lot of smuggling and many people clandestinely producing rum to 86 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:38,399 supply a demand that has not been reduced but has been diverted to the informal 87 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:46,480 sector. Or not that same one that you buy from that you see when 88 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:50,800 you the best business. Right now produced a fake God, because if sixty 89 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:54,199 percent of what they charge you for a bottle of Ron, of course they 90 00:07:54,199 --> 00:07:58,000 ' re taxed and I' m going to sell you a bottle of rock 91 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:01,360 and I' m not going to tax it to the state that sixty percent 92 00:08:01,399 --> 00:08:05,199 because I' m earning every quarter of the world. And it is important 93 00:08:05,279 --> 00:08:09,240 that we take into account that, first, the rum industry is representative for 94 00:08:11,279 --> 00:08:15,279 the very linked history and economic culture, culture and economy and the development of 95 00:08:15,319 --> 00:08:20,759 the Dominican economy of the last almost two hundred years. And, on the 96 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:26,720 other hand, that, certainly, a market that is provided with products that 97 00:08:26,759 --> 00:08:31,240 you are sure that it was not made on a second floor of a house 98 00:08:31,279 --> 00:08:35,679 in Villa Juana, as you know very much, that there is a lot 99 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:39,080 of one, that there are many laboratories that use products that are not for 100 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:43,559 human consumption and carry them and make them into drink, because it is important 101 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:50,039 that the state that is in process, I repeat the government is in the 102 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:56,000 process of presenting to us a package of increase, of tax, because it 103 00:08:56,799 --> 00:09:03,960 takes into account the negative effect that have had decisions of the past, because 104 00:09:03,039 --> 00:09:05,720 each time I repeat that there is a need to increase tax. Look for 105 00:09:05,759 --> 00:09:09,240 two hundred and fifty thousand, two hundred and fifty billion to see if this 106 00:09:09,399 --> 00:09:13,879 is tied. You know how they' re gonna do it. I don 107 00:09:13,399 --> 00:09:16,519 ' t know I' m not an economist. It' s the subject 108 00:09:16,519 --> 00:09:20,240 of macro- economist, of people studying in those pods who understand that they 109 00:09:20,279 --> 00:09:24,440 can make suggestions. But what is true is that we, like other industries, 110 00:09:24,879 --> 00:09:30,200 such as telecommunications, in the Dominican Republic, are experiencing a phenomenon that 111 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:39,440 is not happening in other countries. In the Dominican Republic it has emerged an 112 00:09:39,639 --> 00:09:43,679 industry parallel to the formal telephony, to the companies of formal telecommunications, that 113 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:50,000 are the wifiteros in the neighborhoods, the wifiteros and the tigers that sell Internet 114 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:54,159 by fiber optics and you go to any neighborhood. You' re gonna find 115 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:58,000 a lot of companies that are set up in these neighborhoods. These people who 116 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:03,960 see the Internet service but are not legally formalized, do not pay tax, 117 00:10:03,399 --> 00:10:09,679 but why, because they sell a cheap service compared to formal companies that have 118 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:16,200 to charge the customer with eighteen of TEBI, ten percent of another tax and 119 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:24,279 two percent that put you in the development of telecommunications. Thirty percent of your 120 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:31,080 bill is taxed and that makes these pods appear. Or the great idea that 121 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:37,679 is now appearing in the Dominican Republic. We' re gonna discourage the consumption 122 00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:41,039 of sugary drinks, because that' s making people sick and sounds great. 123 00:10:41,639 --> 00:10:45,720 But the experience of other countries that have done the same thing is that it 124 00:10:45,759 --> 00:10:50,639 is not even discouraging, and that' s all it generates is that an 125 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:54,639 informal or contraband market appears that costs the market a cheaper price than they have 126 00:10:54,679 --> 00:11:00,159 to pay a lot of taxes for it. Then, hopefully and in the 127 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:05,440 midst of all this, you can understand the impact that the tax reform of 128 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:11,840 two thousand twelve has had on past experiences, the drop in revenue that Dominican 129 00:11:11,919 --> 00:11:18,399 Republic is the country that collects the most by tax on alcoholic beverages, is 130 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:24,120 the country where the most tax is paid for a bottle of rum or any 131 00:11:24,279 --> 00:11:33,519 alcoholic life. Never mind the one of your choice and good thing you don 132 00:11:33,639 --> 00:11:35,679 ' t always go the same way. Going to the same place, Pulling 133 00:11:35,759 --> 00:11:43,080 out of your pocket necessarily means that you will have more bowls more money in 134 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:48,120 your pocket to spend. Because all of this is also up to us to 135 00:11:48,159 --> 00:11:52,600 ask politicians why. You always ask us to give you more and you don 136 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:56,559 ' t tell us what you' re going to do to need less. 137 00:12:01,039 --> 00:12:03,600 I had already commented on it last week. So, thanks to the Dominican 138 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:07,759 Association of Producers of Ron for the opportunity to know all this information and hopefully 139 00:12:07,759 --> 00:12:11,240 people are encouraged to know a little more about the data are there so much 140 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:16,919 about how much it contributes to the economy, the industry, in terms of 141 00:12:16,919 --> 00:12:22,440 what it also contributes to the amount of jobs it generates from the economic impact 142 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:30,279 of rum and other alcoholic beverages activity in the country and the need that exists 143 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:35,200 for us to know that we have a border there open and that, as 144 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:39,559 you tighten the nut the more, the more the border is loosened to bring 145 00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:43,879 box of babang hoo. Oh. Yeah, yeah, full bono boban hoo. 146 00:12:45,399 --> 00:12:46,879 Yes, but let them, that is to say, you see some 147 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:52,360 star deos you start riding once we take care of our industries, as well 148 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:58,120 as that of rum, that generate employment and wealth for the Dominican Republic and 149 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:07,480 so many others that should also sit down and explain to Dominican public opinion the 150 00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:09,200 impact they have on the economy. And, second of all, that you 151 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:15,200 don' t always go to the same thing for the same pod. Everyone 152 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:16,960 goes to the same places. Every Hipolito government the same thing, Go well, 153 00:13:18,159 --> 00:13:20,519 the lioness thing the Danilo Lopez government, and now we' re going 154 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:22,679 back to the same thing. Not by God. It' s eight or 155 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:26,919 fifty- two minutes that morning rhythm. Yeah, yeah, I know or 156 00:13:26,159 --> 00:13:28,679 Max Hi, I don' t know if I remember you.