{"id":1345792,"date":"2022-02-26T16:38:58","date_gmt":"2022-02-26T21:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1345792"},"modified":"2022-02-26T16:39:11","modified_gmt":"2022-02-26T21:39:11","slug":"caruzo-socialists-create-foreign-currency-tax-to-bring-bolivar-back-from-the-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/caruzo-socialists-create-foreign-currency-tax-to-bring-bolivar-back-from-the-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"CARUZO \u2013 Socialists Create Foreign Currency Tax to Bring Bolivar Back from the Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcaruzo-socialists-create-foreign-currency-tax-to-bring-bolivar-back-from-the-dead%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1345792&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">CARACAS \u2014 The socialist regime of Venezuela recently <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloombergtax.com\/daily-tax-report-international\/venezuela-national-assembly-approves-tax-on-dollar-transactions\">imposed<\/a> a new tax on all foreign currency payments to civilians and companies. Now that the country is being held together by the once illegal and demonized U.S. dollar, the regime wants their fat slice of everyone\u2019s money.<\/p>\n<p>Lack of clear information and improvisation, often characteristic of the Venezuelan regime, have Venezuelans in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.el-carabobeno.com\/ley-de-impuesto-a-grandes-transacciones-causa-desconcierto-e-incertidumbre\/\">uncertainty<\/a> amidst the impending arrival of this new tax reform. While the initial tax has been estimated to be set at a three-percent value, the law reform has given the regime the ability to change these values in a range that goes from two percent to all the way up to 20 percent. This upcoming tax is separate from the country\u2019s 16-percent Value Added Tax.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe reform that was made in the National Assembly is to charge more to those who have more, to the millionaires. They have enough, they have money,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.elnacional.com\/economia\/maduro-respalda-ley-de-impuestos-a-grandes-transacciones-nuestra-linea-es-cobrar-mas-al-que-mas-tiene\/\">said<\/a> socialist dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. While his words were very much in line with the \u201ctax the rich\u201d slogans often espoused by leftists, the reality is that this new tax forces <a href=\"https:\/\/www.elnacional.com\/economia\/la-reforma-del-impuesto-a-las-grandes-transacciones-financieras-un-tributo-inflacionario-que-nos-afectara-a-todos\/\">everyone<\/a> to pay for it, thereby affecting every Venezuelan citizen alike.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18364050\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Maduro.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-18364050\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Maduro.jpeg\" alt=\"Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a ceremony marking the start of the judicial year at the Supreme Court in Caracas, Venezuela, January 22, 2021. (AP Photo\/Matias Delacroix)\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Venezuelan dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro speaks during a ceremony marking the start of the judicial year at the Supreme Court in Caracas, Venezuela, January 22, 2021. (AP Photo\/Matias Delacroix)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/es\/la-anc-de-venezuela-deroga-el-r%C3%A9gimen-de-il%C3%ADcitos-cambiarios\/a-44936269\">until<\/a> 2018, it was illegal for Venezuelans to hold and trade foreign currencies, so the original version of the tax, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bfc.com.ve\/interna.aspx?page=669\">introduced<\/a> in 2016, only affected transactions done with the country\u2019s currency, the Venezuelan bolivar. The easing and decriminalization of trading and holding foreign cash that began in 2018 gave forth to a de-facto dollarization of the country which alleviated and slightly improved the living conditions of Venezuelans after years of shortages and hyperinflation.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, the U.S. dollar, once an illegal currency secretly hidden in plain sight, has become the main currency holding the country together. By 2021, 67 percent of all of Venezuela\u2019s goods and services transactions were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/venezuela-divisas-idLTAKBN2BG2XR\">paid<\/a> using foreign currencies instead of Venezuelan bolivars. The \u201cDigital\u201d bolivar, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/latin-america\/2021\/08\/25\/caruzo-useless-but-necessary-socialists-cut-6-more-zeros-from-venezuelas-currency\/\">newest<\/a> reboot of the Venezuelan legal tender, is still mainly used for the payment of public utilities and minor purchases.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>In spite of the pseudo-dollarization of the Venezuelan economy, 76 percent of the country <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-latin-america-58743253\">lives<\/a> in extreme poverty. When measured at an income level, 96 percent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/americas\/extreme-poverty-venezuela-rises-766-study-2021-09-29\/\">live<\/a> in poverty. It is estimated that approximately 5.9 million Venezuelans have already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/en-us\/news\/latest\/2021\/10\/61769bea4\/data-reveals-plight-venezuelan-refugees-migrants-evicted-pandemic.html#:~:text=As%20of%20October%202021%2C%20a,displacement%20crises%20in%20the%20world.\">fled<\/a> the country as of October 2021.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7812887\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/venezuela-artist-uses-bolivar-currency-as-canvas-youtube.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-7812887\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/venezuela-artist-uses-bolivar-currency-as-canvas-youtube.jpg\" alt=\"Venezuelan Artist Using Worthless Currency as Art Canvases\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Venezuelan Artist Using Worthless Currency as Art Canvases (source:\u00a0YouTube)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The country\u2019s hyperinflation spiral, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/latin-america\/2018\/12\/21\/imf-inflation-venezuela-hit-1-4-million-percent-before-end-year\/\">reached<\/a> records of upwards to 1,400,000 percent in 2018, slowed down to a relatively more bearable 686 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/news\/venezuela-creeps-out-of-hyperinflation-but-no-one-feels-it\/\">percent<\/a> in 2021. Yet, inflation still continues to be an unbeatable foe for the country\u2019s citizens.<\/p>\n<p>Those that can still survive and relatively make it through this post-collapse phase of socialist Venezuela, including yours truly, are only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/national-security\/2020\/02\/21\/study-most-venezuelans-using-foreign-currency-to-survive\/\">capable<\/a> of doing so because of foreign currency \u2013 be it by remittances or as remuneration from working in either the private sector or foreign companies.<\/p>\n<p>The easing of the country\u2019s currency control laws has made it so that most prices in stores are now expressed and calculated in US. dollars, but that has not stopped inflation from continuing to lay waste to Venezuelan pockets. The cost of goods and services in U.S. dollars <a href=\"https:\/\/www.descifrado.com\/2021\/11\/03\/por-que-aumentan-los-precios-en-dolares-en-venezuela\/\">rose<\/a> by 90 percent between September 2020 and September 2021 and the cost of the Venezuelan market basket <a href=\"https:\/\/eldiario.com\/2022\/02\/05\/costo-dolares-canasta-basica-alimentaria-venezuela\/\">rose<\/a> up by 75 percent between January 2020 and January 2022.<\/p>\n<p>The upcoming tax on foreign currencies is also poised to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.caracaschronicles.com\/2022\/02\/14\/the-new-tax-that-could-deflate-the-economic-recovery\/\">hamper<\/a> the slight improvement that foreign currencies have brought upon those with access to it, worsening an already unwinnable scenario where even the purchasing power of foreign currencies diminishes with each passing month.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>In the socialist regime\u2019s own words, the tax on foreign currency seeks to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eluniversal.com\/economia\/118643\/consideran-que-reforma-a-la-ley-de-impuestos-a-las-grandes-transacciones-financieras-pretende-el\">improve<\/a> wages in the public sector. While Maduro \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-venezuela-economy\/maduro-says-thank-god-for-dollarization-in-venezuela-idUSKBN1XR0RV\">thanked God<\/a>\u201d for the dollarization of Venezuela, the socialist regime uses the bolivar for the payment of public sector wages. Excluding special bonuses, the <a href=\"https:\/\/elpitazo.net\/economia\/salario-minimo-en-venezuela-que-puedes-comprar\/\">current<\/a> minimum wage in Venezuela is 7.00 bolivars per month \u2014 roughly $1.50 when converted through the Venezuelan Central Bank\u2019s official exchange rate. Private sector wages in Venezuela have seen some significant improvement, but the average is still <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vozdeamerica.com\/a\/venezuela-indice-registra-aumento-en-remuneracion-de-los-trabajadores\/6410481.html\">estimated<\/a> to be around $89 per month.<\/p>\n<p>The country\u2019s social security pensions for the elderly are also pegged to the country\u2019s minimum wage rates. For March of 2022, the Venezuelan elderly will be receiving a pension worth 7.00 Bolivars ($1.50).<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">El IVSS pagar\u00e1 ma\u00f1ana la pensi\u00f3n 7 Bs = 1,5 d\u00f3lares. Esa es la cantidad que el chavismo considera justa y suficiente, para que un pensionado compre medicinas y comida durante un mes. MISERABLES. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YonbxHmypn\">pic.twitter.com\/YonbxHmypn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Watcher (@Watcher_Ven) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Watcher_Ven\/status\/1495524745638518786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 20, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>By taxing foreign currency, the regime seeks to incentivize and <a href=\"https:\/\/finanzasdigital.com\/2022\/02\/luis-vicente-leon-el-bcv-intenta\/\">revive<\/a> the use of the country\u2019s legal tender, the Venezuelan bolivar, a currency that under the socialist regime\u2019s rule has had three different reboots and a whopping fourteen zeroes slashed on its currency scale.<\/p>\n<p>Cryptocurrencies are also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/video\/bitcoin-craze-venezuelans-face-upto-191112223.html#:~:text=Targeting%20Crypto%20and%20Foreign%20Payments&#038;text=Reportedly%2C%20a%20week%20ago%2C%20the,currencies%20like%20the%20US%20dollar.\">subject<\/a> to tax under this new law reform. Controversial and polarizing as they may be, these digital assets have also stepped up to be a lifebuoy in a country that has had its national currency destroyed by the utter mismanagement of its authoritarian socialist regime. Only the Petro, the regime\u2019s scam <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/national-security\/2018\/03\/19\/trump-bans-americans-from-buying-venezuelan-petro-cryptocurrency\/\">cryptocurrency<\/a>, is exempt from these taxes.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8636012\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/nicolas-maduro-venezuela-petro-cryptocurrency-getty-photo.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8636012\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/nicolas-maduro-venezuela-petro-cryptocurrency-getty-photo.jpg\" alt=\"Venezuela&#039;s President Nicolas Maduro gestures during a press conference to launch to the market a new oil-backed cryptocurrency called &#039;Petro&#039;, at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, on February 20, 2018. Venezuela formally launched its new oil-backed cryptocurrency on Tuesday in an unconventional bid to haul itself out of a deepening economic crisis. The leftist Caracas government put 38.4 million units of the world&#039;s first state-backed digital currency, the Petro, on private pre-sale from the early hours. A total of 100 million Petros will go on sale, with an initial value set at $60, based on the price of a barrel of Venezuelan crude in mid-January. \/ AFP PHOTO \/ Federico PARRA (Photo credit should read FEDERICO PARRA\/AFP\/Getty Images)\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Venezuela\u2019s President Nicolas Maduro gestures during a press conference to launch to the market a new oil-backed cryptocurrency called \u2018Petro\u2019, at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, on February 20, 2018. (FEDERICO PARRA\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>This upcoming tax places Venezuelans, who already struggle enough as it is, between a rock and a hard place: Either see their foreign currency purchase power diminished by the new tax reform, or force themselves to exchange them to bolivars, a currency that Venezuelans no longer have any trust in given its proclivity to rapidly lose value.<\/p>\n<p>Whether you believe the regime\u2019s narrative with this new tax, or if you believe that the money will instead be used for other purposes, is something not even Venezuelans can ever be certain of, as fiscal transparency is among the list of things you will not find in this country. The socialist regime of Venezuela breaks its own laws by having not published the country\u2019s tax figures since 2009, nor has it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.infobae.com\/america\/venezuela\/2022\/02\/18\/un-grupo-de-economistas-le-pidio-a-nicolas-maduro-publicar-el-presupuesto-nacional-no-lo-hace-desde-2016\/\">published<\/a> the country\u2019s public budget since 2016.<\/p>\n<p>The reform to the Great Financial Transaction law is set to come into force on March 1, 2022.<\/p>\n<p><em>Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KalebPrime\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CARACAS \u2014 The socialist regime of Venezuela recently imposed a new tax on all foreign currency payments to civilians and companies. Now that the country is being held together by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1345792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1345792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1345792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1345792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1345792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}