SAN SALVADOR.– The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, announced that he will send a proposal to Congress next week to eliminate all taxes related to various branches of technological development and innovation.
The president, who will seek re-election in the elections in early 2024, said that the request will include the items of software programming, coding, applications, artificial intelligence development, as well as the manufacturing of computing and communications hardware.
“Next week I will send a bill to Congress to eliminate all taxes (on income, property, capital gains and import duties) on technological innovations,” the president wrote on his Twitter account last night. from Thursday.
The Salvadoran president did not provide more details about the proposal that he will present before the Parliament, with an official majority, nor did he specify what else is sought with it.
The tax cut plan appears to be part of Bukele’s broader ambitions to position El Salvador as a cryptocurrency hub. The measure could generate incentives for technology companies, and motivate investors and entrepreneurs in the sector to move to the territory, which could be beneficial for the country’s economy.
The nation adopted bitcoin as legal tender in 2021 and more recently, at the beginning of the year, a law was approved for the issuance of bonds backed by cryptocurrency, also known as the “Volcano Bonus”. This instrument is expected to help finance the construction of the ambitious “Bitcoin City” project, also announced by the president.
Various influential figures from the tech sphere spoke out at Bukele’s announcement, including Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the CEO of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
In a tweet, CZ expressed his support for the initiative, noting that the exchange had already established a Customer Service Center in El Salvador last year., employing around 60 staff members. “Let’s do more!” CZ added, suggesting that the company could expand its operations in the country by taking advantage of tax incentives.
Jason Williams, the co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital Assets, an investment firm focused on crypto and Blockchain, expressed a similar idea, advancing that You could choose El Salvador as a destination to open your next business.
Former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan also weighed in, noting that the measure could make “many North Americans” decide to move to the Central American country in the next century.
Reuters Agency
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