Cuban ministry applies tax incentives for food production

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 19 (ACN) Tax benefits and incentives to help revive key sectors of the Cuban economy, such as agriculture and industry, are beginning to be implemented since early this year by the Ministry of Finance and Prices (MFP), through the management and control of the State Budget Law of 2024.

This is evidenced by the recent publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of several resolutions of that agency, one of which refers to the rebate of the payment of the customs tax on imports of raw materials, inputs and intermediate goods, destined to productive processes, with special focus on agricultural and food production.

The tax rate for such operations is reduced by 50%, but this is not the only measure taken by the MFP in its efforts to promote the development and growth of primary sectors such as this one, in which the country spends millions of dollars annually on the purchase of foodstuffs abroad.

Therefore, it is not surprising that among the complementary rules to this year's Budget there is also a 2% reduction in the tax rate for the payment of personal income tax by individual agricultural producers, when the general rate is 5%.

The regulation expresses the differentiated treatment and the priority given to the strategic sector, with the purpose of stimulating food production for the population.

But Resolution 308/2023 of the Ministry of Finance and Prices itself is also in force, consisting of the application of the tax for the idleness of agricultural and forestry lands in the provinces and municipalities of the country.

Vladimir Regueiro Ale, head of the ministry, explained to the Cuban News Agency that it is not a tax aimed at collecting money but at having an impact on land owners to make an efficient use of this resource, in order to improve the food supply of the people.

In line with this objective, in 2024 the State Budget plans to promote the Rurality Attention Program, whose objective is to improve living conditions in rural areas of the country, where there is a basic component of our cultural identity and where the primary sector of the economy that should contribute the most to the GDP is based.

This is intended to help halt the depopulation process that has been occurring in these regions since the middle of the last century.