Venezuela’s national tax harmonization agreement has been signed by the council representing 305 municipalities. They have agreed to use the country’s cryptocurrency, the petro, as the unit of account for tax payments.

Taxing in Petro

The Bolivarian Council of Mayors signed Venezuela’s National Tax Harmonization Agreement on Sunday, placing the cryptocurrency petro as the unit of account for the payment of taxes and fines in 305 municipalities. The country is comprised of 335 municipalities, incorporated into 23 states and the capital district.

Calling the agreement “historic,” Vice President Delcy Rodríguez stressed that the prohibition of collecting taxes and duties in foreign currency has been established because the unit of account for this tax is now the petro, local news outlet Ultimas Noticias conveyed. She added that for the first time in Venezuela’s history, a municipal tax harmonization was achieved.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro supports the signing, instructing Rodríguez to ensure that the harmonization of all taxes is maintained to avoid double taxation. Rodríguez explained that to achieve this, a single registry of municipal taxpayers will be created and administered by the Bolivarian Council of Mayors. It will function as a digital tool for the consultation, information exchange, and monitoring of companies with branches in different municipalities to verify declaration made in one mayor’s office but paid in another. In the future, it can also be used to cross-check information with the national tax system, she described.

Rodríguez further noted that the tax harmonization agreement also simplifies administrative procedures, such as reducing the reference codes for economic activities, industries, and businesses from 600 to 30. Sharing Rodríguez’s sentiment, Mayor Erika Farias commented:

This tax harmonization agreement, which we have reached after a great debate among the 305 Bolivarian mayors, is an unprecedented event in our country.

During the signing, Mayor José Alejandro Teran highlighted that using the petro as the unit of account for calculating taxes is not only innovative, but it also helps protect against hyperinflation, which he attributes to U.S. sanctions.

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