Dominican Republic tax revenue plummets 37.7% to US$600.0M in May

Santo Domingo.- In May tax revenue stood at RD$34.8 billion US$600.0 million), with which the fall deepened precisely in the month in which the government decided to start the de-escalation process.

Data from the Ministry of Finance indicate that 21.04 billion pesos less than a year earlier entered during this period, which meant a year-on-year drop of 37.7%.

Amid the emergency declaration to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Dominican government had to order the cessation of non-essential economic activities and the closure of the borders since March 19. Two months later, on May 19, it allowed the economy to begin to revive in a four-phase program.

Much of what stopped entering the govt. coffers is related to household consumption. ITBIS (VAT) collection, one of the largest sources of income for the Dominican State, went from 88.25 billion pesos between January and May of last year to 73.3 billion pesos in the same period of 2020, a drop of 17% in one year.