By The Star Staff
Governor-elect Jenniffer González Colón announced Monday the formation of the Tax Reform Committee composed of fiscal and governmental experts to draft a new Internal Revenue Code.
The primary objective of the committee is to review and simplify the commonwealth’s tax system, reform public finances, and provide relief to the middle class, thereby easing the financial burden on taxpayers.
The committee is made up of individuals with extensive professional experience, including former treasury secretaries. The members include certified public accountant (CPA) Xenia Vélez, CPA Teresita Fuentes, and the current deputy secretary of the Treasury, Ángel Pantoja Rodríguez. Other members are Margarita Serapion, lawyer and CPA Manuel López Zambrana, CPA Cecilia Colón -- who is a past president of the Certified Public Accountants Association of Puerto Rico -- and lawyer and CPA Oriol Campos.
“I committed to giving Puerto Ricans a more fair and efficient tax system, with an emphasis on the middle class, which faces the most economic challenges every day,” González Colón said. “This committee will focus on identifying and proposing the necessary reforms to reduce tax burdens, especially in critical areas such as capital gains and individual and corporate rates as contained in the NPP [New Progressive Party] government program.”
The committee will advise the governor on issues such as the reduction of tax rates, including the review of the inventory tax and the evaluation of mechanisms for its replacement. It will also review and work on the delicate issue of the Global Minimum Tax to make Puerto Rico more competitive. In addition, it will propose measures to simplify tax processes at both the state and municipal levels. It will promote a savings culture through improved benefits for individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and other financial initiatives.
González Colón stressed that the effort is essential to transform Puerto Rico’s fiscal structure while improving the island’s competitiveness and fostering economic development.
“Tax reform is one of the key pieces to offering our people a more prosperous Puerto Rico, with a more robust middle class [with fewer] tax burdens,” she said.
The advisory committee will begin its functions as soon as González Colón assumes the office of governor on Jan. 2.
The members of the committee, and their credentials, are:
Xenia Vélez: A former treasury secretary with vast experience in fiscal and industrial incentives in Puerto Rico, as well as in the taxation of international operations in the United States. She has actively participated in the drafting of legislation and regulations at both the federal and local levels.
Teresita Fuentes: A former treasury secretary with more than 30 years of experience in tax and administrative matters, both in public accounting and in government.
Ángel Pantoja Rodríguez: The island Treasury Department’s deputy secretary of internal revenue and tax policies. He has worked as a lawyer in the private sector, advising companies on corporate and tax law.
Margarita Serapion: One of the first women to obtain the title of certified public accountant in Puerto Rico and the first to preside over a professional organization on the island. She has more than 30 years of experience in tax practice.
Manuel López Zambrana: Represents clients in a variety of industries, such as finance, manufacturing, insurance, telecommunications, and more. He also advises on complex federal and local tax matters.
Cecilia Colón: The sixth woman to preside over the Certified Public Accountants Association of Puerto Rico.
Oriol Campos: A member of the government’s Incoming Transition Committee, lawyer, accountant, former administrator of the House of Representatives, and adviser on legal, administrative, and financial public policy.
EDITOR’S NOTE: So that our employees can enjoy the Christmas holiday, the STAR will not publish on Wednesday, Dec. 25.
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