Government will observe law to increase the municipal tax

He Government confirmed that he will not observe the law that definitely elevates the Municipal Promotion Tax 2% to 4%. This tax is the main source of Foncomunwhich finances projects in local governments. This measure will allow local governments to receive double resources to finance public works and services. However, various specialists question whether municipalities really have the technical capacity to administer higher budgets.

According to Comex Peru, 20 of the 25 municipalities that received the most funds in 2024 did not execute 59% of their budget. An emblematic case is the San Marcos District (Áncash)which only executed 44.8% of the more than 719 million soles allocated this year. In specific projects such as transitability works or recreational spaces, advances did not exceed 3%.

Another critical situation is recorded in the District Municipality of Vista Alegre (Ica)which barely executed 39.7% of its budget. Meanwhile, Oxapampa (Pasco) He only used 22.2% of the funds for his management.

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In general, the budget of Foncomun For local governments it was 10,205 million soles in 2023, with an execution of 85.8%. However, by analyzing only public investment spending, only 66.6%was executed, that is, 9,682 million soles were unused. These resources would have allowed to build thousands of medical posts, hospitals or improve neighborhood roads, according to Comex estimates.

He manager of Economic studies From the entity, Rafael Zacnich, expressed his rejection of the increase in resources without prior reforms, warning that it is a populist measure that could harm tax sustainability. He recalled that, year after year, local governments return funds for not being able to use them.

In addition, the Here reported in 2023 that more than 70% of municipalities required training in key areas such as administrative, tax management and project formulation.

The decision of Executive Not observing the law has also generated suspicions, coinciding with the waiting for the vote of confidence to the new cabinet.