With only five days left for the deadline to file the sworn statement for the payment of the personal income tax in the agricultural sector, less than 50 percent of the producers in the municipality of Florida responded to the Tax Administration’s call.
It seems that many of them are still unaware of, question or avoid the importance of complying with this legal obligation, included among the duties of citizens, to contribute to the collective development by contributing to the State Budget.
It is appropriate to remind the defaulters that this common account, made up of corporate contributions and those of state and private workers, is intended to support social conquests and services available to all equally, including health, free education, promotion of sports activities and social security, just to cite a few examples.
But it is necessary to say something else to those agricultural producers who to date, and without real justification, fail to comply with their tax duties: that five percent expected to be paid on personal income in 2023, is also the same money that the government then uses to buy, pay or subsidize their fundamental productions to meet the food demands of a people of which they are a part, with full rights.
It is also contradictory to hear news of tax evasion and tax arrears in a sector that has benefited increasingly from the policies of the Revolution in the last 65 years, from the Agrarian Reform Law itself and the delivery of idle lands in free usufruct, to the dignification of rural men and women, together with the constant increase in the purchase price of their productions.
Doctors, teachers, artists, journalists, bankers, cooperative members, civil servants and many other salaried workers in Florida pay their taxes every month.
The commitment of farmers to the social system that supports and backs them in their daily work goes beyond the planting and collection of food in the current situation, it also requires them to be consistent in fulfilling their tax duties that contribute to the financial health of the country and the welfare of the Cuban people.
