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Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and this Circumcision Netflix or other streaming services are close to charging VATConcern about financial balance”.

“By this, there is approval of the collection mechanism VAT For streaming (Services). The Rate of VAT Already, it is 18%. What happens is that the provider is external in this case. When the Act was enacted VAT, it was always assumed that the service provider or the good would be internal, but now we have an external provider. “The law was inadequate in these terms, which created the tax, but not the form of payment.” Minister Jose Arista said recently.

Gestión spoke with Jorge Picón, tax attorney and partner at Picón & Asociados, to learn about the process that must be carried out before tax collection. VAT And the impact it has on the masses.

read more: IGV to Netflix: MEF is already working on a charging system for streaming

Do banks charge commission for tax payment?

Jorge Picón pointed out that this line should be used for use Streaming sitesThe government should require the bank to charge the customer.

Therefore, banking institutions “Create a computer system and apply bank charges to customers. By this the expenditure is more than the tax collected. This is due to absence Foreign payment method For tax exemption; So the bank should improve it. It is a Fixed cost And it will be more than tax”.

The tax official recalled that this measure had been assessed earlier but had not succeeded because “While charging US$2 as tax, the customer ended up paying US$3 or US$4“

Also, he said,The basic technique of any country is that the cost of taxing should not exceed the tax, and that is what happens if they insist on this measure.”.

Also, even if the government does not collect tax 18% VAT And choose a priority, the bank's price will be the same, because this computer system They are expensive to implement.

Currently, the premium plan rate Netflix It is S/ 45 per month (access to four screens). If applied VATAnd the bank's commission, the user must pay an additional S/ 15, according to Picón's estimate of US$ 4.

This would represent a 30% increase in what users pay today. It goes from S/ 45 to S/ 60 for the premium plan.

However, for Walker Villanueva, founding partner of Estudio Philippi, Prietocarrizosa, Ferrero DU & Uría (PPU), the banking firm does not charge commission, “Because it is part of the duty to cooperate with the state”. That way, he said, only the user is charged 18% VAT The administrator proposes.

Thus, if the user has a premium plan Netflix (S/ 45) will be added with 18% VAT (S/ 8), so you pay S/ 53 per month.

read more: Telefónica del Perú: We ask that digital platforms “pay at least something”.

Who will be responsible for implementing a system for collecting VAT?

“The bearers of this additional cost will be the users of the platforms.” George Beacon replies.

He added that Association of Peruvian Banks (ASBANK), it was reported that the system does not exist to collect taxes on national or foreign transactions. He also said that it will cost S/10 million to build.

Beacon recalled the case ITF. “The government did not take charge of bank commissions on current accounts and they were “excessively high.” Before the ITF, the monthly fee for holding a checking account was US$10, but later, it rose to US$50.“

In this way, he said, if the government does not take the financial responsibility for this bank computer system, the people will have to bear the cost. It does not affect the middle-high or high socioeconomic level, but rather the middle and lower levels. Streaming service “It's not a base basket, but it's massive consumption and the tax will make those with the lowest worse off, even though they consume as much as middle- and high-income people.”.

read more: Netflix adds 9.33 million subscribers and crushes forecasts

A requirement?

For executive branch, collect VAT to use Streaming servicesThere are alternatives to increasing collections.

“This has been studied in the past and does not make sense in all cases. If they insist on this fee it is because they want to increase their revenue.“, Beacon considers.

As he pointed out, the main measures to combat the problem are not analyzed, but instead a 'solution' is proposed that will economically harm the citizens.

“Peruvian tax collection has serious problems, but there are no simple solutions to a serious problem. It seems to me that the need for excessive collection would justify this. This measure is easy to use when there are large informalities such as illegal mining and crime.”, he questions.

If the measure is approved, the head of the MEF estimates that this tax collection could generate between S/ 1,000 million and S/ 1,200 million annually for the state. But how much will Peruvians pay for these services?

Beacon points out that it's difficult to quantify brokerage That they will collect Banks. He recalled “As for ITF, in many cases b has risen above the amount paid from ITF.”.