Tuesday at the National Palace, the President Michel Martelly, in the presence of Marie Carmelle Jean-Marie, Minister of Economy and Finance, M. A. Rodon Bien-Aimé, President of the Commission finance of the Lower House, some members of the private sector, representatives of Friends of Haiti whose ambassador Didier Lebret, of some NGOs in Haiti and other actors working in the field of economy ; attended to the presentation by Ronald Décembre, the Secretary of State for Tax Reform, of the fiscal reform plan of the Government and of the proposal of new timetable.

Low rate of tax pressure, low participation of current revenues to the financing of the state budget, outdated and inadequate administrative structure, age and inadequacy of certain fiscal legislation and a limited tax base, are part of the fundamental objectives to which intends to tackle this reform.

The Head of State congratulated the Ministry of Finance and expressed the hope that these reforms will be implemented in the shortest possible time "In the first months of my mandate, I announced major reforms in terms of economic governance. In this context, a fiscal reform oriented towards the overhaul of certain laws and an improvement in tax administration, are essential to achieve a high and sustained growth."

The general and specific objectives supported by the Secretary of State for Tax Reform, include among others :

• Make the administration more efficient for a more autonomous budget ;

• Dematerialize operational procedures by September 2014 ;

• Have an appropriate legal and regulatory framework ;

• Establish a new management of taxes of mass ;

• Have a decent working environment.

For his part, the President Martelly, believes that the fiscal reform, as he conceives it, must allow the State to :

• More effectively mobilize domestic resources ;

• Fight against fraud and tax evasion ;

• Revise the rates of direct and indirect taxation ;

• Rationalize incentives and exemptions that reduce the tax base or that weaken the tax system ;

• SEnsure the equal treatment between taxpayers, essential to strengthen the credibility of the tax administration ;

• Broaden the tax base and encourage fiscal discipline of local and multinational taxpayers.

"Our vision is to provide the country with a modern tax administration, efficient, transparent, flexible and welcoming, in which, are developed ethical values​​, professionalism and fairness, which put in confidence the economic agents," expalined Mr. Ronald Décembre.

In addition, the Secretary of State invited all economic agents to demonstrate integrity, professionalism, justice and fairness for the good functioning of this sector.

For his part, the President asked all stakeholders to get to work, to operationalize the reform plan presented by the Ministry of Finance.

HL/ HaitiLibre