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Chamber of Deputies rejects the tax reform bill

On March 8th, 2023, the government of President Gabriel Boric suffered a major setback as the Chamber of Deputies rejected the tax reform bill that had been under discussion in Congress since July, 2022.

In a very tight voting, the bill was rejected with 73 votes in favor, 71 against, and 3 abstentions (as under the Chamber’s regulation, abstentions count as against votes since the quorum needed for passing a bill is 50% plus 1), these latter being unexpected as per the government’s calculations.

The rejection of the bill implies that the government has the alternative to insist in the Senate, for which it would nonetheless need 2/3 of quorum to get approval, or else let 1 year pass before filing a new bill. Yesterday, finance minister Mario Marcel indicated that the government would opt for the latter.

Provided that the funding of the most important initiatives to be put forward by the government depended on the 3.6% GDP additional revenue that the tax reform aspired to, it is to be expected that the bill (or a different one) is effectively re-filed in parliament, once the 1-year term, set forth by the Chilean Constitution, has passed.