IRS/Seniat exceeded revenue target for profits tax (ISLR) by 149% in March

Caracas Daily Journal (Jeremy Morgan): The tax collection agency, Seniat, said that it exceeded its revenue target for profits tax (ISLR) by 149 percent in March, taking in BsF4.07 billion, against the official goal of BsF2.74 billion.

Seniat Superintendent José David Cabello Rondón said profits tax revenues had risen by 39 percent during the first quarter of this year compared with the January-March period last year.
First quarter revenues from the tax totalled BsF5.74 billion this time around, against BsF4.13 billion in the comparable period of 2007, Cabello Rondón said. The figures do not include revenues from the oil industry.

While the profits tax was the star of the occasion, overall tax revenues also rose sharply on a year before, reaching BsF8.18 billion in March. That marked an increase of 124 percent on the BsF6.6 billion recorded during the same month in 2007. The first three months of this year saw a rise in total tax collection, which includes the profits tax, income from customs and excise, value added tax (IVA) and other sources.

Overall tax collection came out at BsF17.9 billion in January-March this year, compared with BsF14.9 billion a year before, Cabello Rondón said. He claimed that the increase in revenues was attributable to policies pursued at the behest of President Hugo Chávez, and also praised his staff. Tax evasion used to be widespread in Venezuela, to the point that it was regarded as the norm.