Puerto Rico's House of Representatives may vote as soon as Wednesday on a proposal that would raise the sales tax, helping pave the way for the junk-rated island to sell debt.
The majority party in the chamber voted to present the tax bill for consideration in a session Wednesday afternoon, meaning lawmakers may start debating it. The measure would increase the sales tax to 11.5 percent from 7 percent. Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla and legislative leaders agreed last week on the framework for a tax proposal to balance the island's fiscal 2016 budget. The legislature has to approve the plan.
House Speaker Jaime Perello Borras said lawmakers are waiting for the governor's office to send amendments that would address concerns of majority-party lawmakers, according to a report in Metro PR, a local newspaper. Last month, the House rejected a previous tax-overhaul bill, with some members of the governor's ruling Popular Democratic Party voting against it.
A vote Wednesday "will depend on a few things," Perello Borras told Metro PR. "We are working so that the House Finance Committee can work on and present its report as quickly as possible."
Members of the opposition New Progressive Party have said they'll vote against the bill. The tax increase would attract investors to a planned $2.9 billion sale of bonds backed by oil- tax revenue, according to the Government Development Bank. Proceeds would repay money the highways authority owes the bank, which lends to the commonwealth and its localities, and help avert a partial government shutdown.
The GDB needs the cash. Its net liquidity dropped to $1.02 billion as of April 30, from $2 billion in October.
