COVID-19: Tax relief granted by the government

With the declaration of the state of economic emergency, the national government issued a series of legislative decrees to grant tax relief to taxpayers.

The state of economic emergency ended on April 17, 2020, 30 days after the issuance of Decree 417.

On March 17, 2020, through Decree 417, the National Government declared, for a term of 30 days, a state of economic, sanitary and ecological emergency in the national territory following the spread of COVID-19.

During this time, the Government issued a series of legislative decrees by means of which it adopted certain measures and granted certain relief to different sectors of the national economy, in order to face the effects derived from the economic crisis.

The state of economic emergency ended on April 17, 2020. However, the state of sanitary emergency is still in force until May 30 of the current year, according to Resolution 358 of March 12, 2020, issued by the Ministry of Health.

Now, within the tax relief granted by the Government we find the following:

Extension of deadlines for filing the income tax return.

Through Decree 520 of 2020, the Ministry of Finance extended the deadlines for the filing of income tax returns and complementary returns for large taxpayers and legal entities. In our editorial Decree 520 of April 6, 2020 and the complexities to define income quotas in April and June we analyze the 8 special cases that taxpayers will have to face.

GMF exemption for Esal

Legislative Decree 530 of 2020 established the exemption from the tax on financial movements -GMF- for withdrawals from current and/or savings accounts of Esal belonging to the special tax regime -RTE-, as long as such resources are destined to benefit the most vulnerable population with the sole purpose of mitigating the effects of COVID-19.

VAT exemption for medical supplies

Legislative Decree 551 of 2020 enacted the VAT exemption for 211 medical supplies, which integrate the 24 that had already been mentioned in Legislative Decree 438 of the current year. Therefore, as long as the state of sanitary emergency is maintained, such goods will be marketed as VAT exempt, regardless of who makes the sale and the regime to which it belongs.

Benefits for the aeronautical sector

Legislative Decree 575 of 2020 established that those who make investments of at least 2,000,000 UVT in the aeronautical sector will enjoy, for 20 years, the benefits of the regime of mega-investments, where they may depreciate their assets in a minimum term of 2 years, always using the fixed rate of 27% in income, will not calculate presumptive income and will not be subject to wealth tax.

Additionally, said legislative decree states that VAT on airline tickets is reduced from 19% to 5% until December 31, 2021.

Source: Actualícese