Dear reader,
Just last week, SENIAT’s new hot shot director Román Maniglia announced a few simple changes on certain tax requirements that actually signal a significant policy change from Venezuela’s tax administration. They eliminated the obligation to show the tax ID number at the counter of retail businesses—as well as retroactive penalties for those who failed to do so. Sounds small, but this kind of requirement was used by el Mocho Cabello’s SENIAT to extort millions of dollars out of honest business owners for almost two decades. They would overwhelm taxpayers with a bunch of crazy obligations, a minefield of requirements, making it easy to misstep and trigger absurdly high penalties. Then, the tax auditor would swing by an offer you an alternative…
This is great. Just as it is great to travel through Venezuela without being stopped at checkpoints, harassed and asked for something pa los frescos, or being able to swiftly solve your documentation issues, without having to pay someone to process you an ID or a passport for absurd amounts of cash. Or even being able to report, as journalists, from the streets of Venezuela (exceptions apply). Problems that suddenly stopped being problems in the new Venezuela, seemingly overnight.
What’s enraging here, is that it was as easy as flipping a switch. Which is further proof that tormenting Venezuelans was state policy. They knew what they were doing, and even worse, they knew how to fix it.
We would like to send our love to our former managing editor and partner, Emiliana Duarte, on the loss of her father, Andrés Duarte Vivas—a true Caracas Chronicler. May his memory keep you company.
Un abrazo para ti y para tu familia.
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César CrespoHow Delcy RodrÃguez Is Rewriting Venezuela’s Foreign Policy
She seeks to preserve authoritarian rule at home by engaging with former enemies and cultivating international goodwill
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El Feed
Fact-Checking Rubio & Delcy: Chavismo and the secretary of state claimed on Friday that 130 political prisoners would be released. Human rights NGOs put the actual number of releases closer to 80.
Crazy image of the week
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