Puerto Ricans Boycott Tax Plan with "No Consumption Day"

The Puerto Rican tax system faces a potentially radical transformation at the hands of Governor Alejandro García Padilla. The change calls for replacing the 7 percent Sales and Use Tax (SUT) with a new 16-percent Value Added Tax (VAT). The goal is to aid the island’s economic recovery.+

The governor has argued that the implementation of a VAT will create a new tax system that will reduce tax evasion. “We have a system that penalizes work and productivity, while rewarding evasion,” he said last November.+

The creation of a VAT has generated some strong opposition. Businesses and doctors offices have announced plans to close shop and cancel patients’ medical appointments in protest. Opposition activists have also announced plans to participate in a “No Consumption Day,” an “apolitical” boycott scheduled for March 3.+

Some businesses have turned to social media to voice their dissent, announcing that they will remain closed and encouraging consumers to abstain from shopping as a form of protest.

On Sunday, March 1, Puerto Ricans held a march to reject the replacement of the Sales and Use Tax with a 16-percent Value Added Tax. (Wunitv)

Sabrina Martín

Puerto Ricans Boycott Tax Plan with "No Consumption Day"