More SMEs close in Cuba but they don’t know how much money they are losing due to tax evasion 2024-07-13 01:45:55

Officials from the National Tax Administration Office (ONAT) reported on Wednesday that small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) continue to close due to the increase in cases of tax evasion, but they are not sure how much money they have lost as a result.

According to a report by the government in the Granma newspaper, tax evaders are “true masters in the art of deception, in fabricating stories and omitting valuable information,” which is why, in addition to closing their businesses, they are also regulated and cannot leave the country until “they pay what they owe.”

In this report, they make it clear that, despite the measures, the Cuban state does not know the exact amount of income lost due to tax evasion, although up to June more than 162 million pesos have been identified as evaded, a figure that must be below reality.

Closure of SMEs due to tax evasion in Cuba

On Wednesday, the official press published two extensive articles on these crimes, revealing that by the end of March, 210 reports of complaints had been issued, of which 117 had been analyzed. However, only six final sentences had been handed down: two in Ciego de Ávila, two in Camagüey, one in Santiago de Cuba and one in Holguín.

“We are still dissatisfied and, above all, we have to be more agile when working on these procedures,” said Belkis Pino Hernández, first deputy head of the National Tax Administration Office (Onat).

“Any MSME that does not keep its accounting records properly and, in addition, does not correctly pay its tax obligations, demonstrates an intention to evade taxes, so we have the right to proceed with the complaint,” they added.

The ONAT in Havana reported 24 alleged cases of tax evasion this year. So far, nine complaints have been filed: six once morest self-employed workers (TCP) for unpaid debts and three once morest MSMEs for irregularities in accounting records, use of false invoices and declarations of sales of products at prices lower than the real ones.

One of them, it is presumed, is the well-known “Cuban Costco” case, which closed this year. So the closures of SMEs due to tax evasion in Cuba continue.