14 TH E CUB A RE V I EW 



enterprises have suffered enormous financial losses and today are heavily in debt there- 

 from, if having surxived. With the revival of business said commercial institutions are 

 still unable to more than pay expenses and are unable to provide interest on the invest- 

 ment involved and must in the future provide funds for payment of their existing 

 indebtedness, if the financial conditions of said industries and commerce are to be sound 

 and successful, and any additional taxation must be equitable and uniformly distributed, 

 thereby minimizing to each interest the burdensome effect of same; otherwise the 

 prosperity of the country is impaired. 



This Chamber further believes, from the experience of its members with the present 

 Stamp and other existing forms of taxation, that in the execution of the innumerable 

 individual forms of taxation of the proposed Bill, many of which are conducive of 

 evasion, an extraordinary large corps of inspectors and similar agents will be necessary, 

 requiring much experience in each particular line of taxation and accordingly placing 

 large expense upon the Government for the complete and correct collection of same, 

 and also large expense upon Industry and Commerce in complying with the requirements 

 of payment of said taxation, all of which reflects fundamental inefficiency, which at 

 this time is of vital importance to the Republic and its commerce and does not provide 

 the Government with additional funds commensurate therewith and accordingly nullifies 

 the taxation advantage to be obtained from the adoption of a single tax, namely, the 

 Gross Sales Tax. 



Protest 



In consideration of the aforesaid conditions, this Chamber respectfully protests 

 against the passage of the entire new Tax Bill hereinbefore referred to, with the exception 

 of that part of same relating to the "1 per cent. Gross Sales Tax," Chapter IV, Articles 

 XXXII to XLI, both numbers inclusive. Approval is made of this "1 per cent. Gross 

 Sai.es Tax" only upon the following conditions: 



1st. That it shall contain a clause to the effect that the Seller shall collect from 

 the Purchaser the amount of the sales tax applicable to the respective sale. 



2nd. That the sale or resale of raw sugar in the original sack in which placed by 

 manufacturer thereof shall be exempt from the 1 per cent. Sales Tax, providing said 

 raw sugar is not consumed in the domain of Cuba. 



3rd. All sales or resale of refined sugar for consumption in the domain of Cuba 

 shall be subject to the 1 per cent. Sales Tax. All sales or resales of refined sugar 

 exported from the Republic of Cuba shall be exempt from the Sales Tax. 



4th. The Law of July 1, 1920, shall be cancelled in accordance with Article XXXIX 

 of the proposed bill attached hereto, said companies, firms, individuals and other business 

 organizations required to pay 4 per cent, on the net profits, according to law of July 

 1, 1920, shall, with the aforesaid cancellation of same, be subject to pay 1 per cent. 

 Gross Sales Tax. 



It shall be provided that such business organizations as shall continue to pay taxation 

 according to the law of July 1, 1920, shall make renditions of statements of their accounts 

 of their operations every six months but that the tax collectable shall be paid annually 

 based on twelve months' operation of said business organizations. 



It shall be provided that the tax collectable from business organizations shall continue 

 to pay taxation according to the Law of July 1, 1920, said tax shall be collectable only 

 at source, and that net profits on which tax has been collected shall not be resubject 

 to the net profit tax, when same become the earnings or profits of another corporation, 

 firm, individual or other business organization. 



5th. The Stamp Tax laws of July 31, 1917, and as amended July 1, 1920, shall 

 be cancelled in total and shall not be substituted by other Stamp Tax Laws. 



This Chamber considers the following parts of the Proposed Tax Bill in the House 

 of Representatives to be either ambiguous, grossly unjust and unfair, in that same 

 burdens or is selective upon some companies, commodities and industries in exclusion 

 to others, and is detrimental to the commerce of Cuba. 



