In its 94th ordinary edition, the Official Gazette of the Republic published on Thursday decrees-laws, decrees and resolutions for the improvement of freelancers(private) and non-agricultural cooperatives, as well as the creation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
Cuba’s Deputy Minister of Economy and Planning Johana Odriozola along with officials of the Ministries of Finance and Prices and that of Labor and Social Security explained to the press that those are new legal guidelines and the adjustment of others to the current domestic conditions, as part of the currency overhaul and the National Economic and Social Development Plan.
The new regulations give a different vision to freelance, resume the work of non-agricultural cooperatives, while they mean a novelty by introducing MSMEs, about which there are many expectations, and for which they have tried to eliminate obstacles to their development, the deputy minister pointed out.
In all cases, she indicated, the general provisions for the operation and control of those production and service organizations, the contraventions and measures for freelance, the social security system and the tax regime in those three forms of State and non-State management were updated.
Odriozola emphasized that in the case of protection for freelancers and members of non-agricultural cooperatives, coverage was extended to include cases of illness, maternity, total disability, old age and care for families in the event of death, benefits which will be financed with the member’s contribution.
The deputy minister also highlighted the adjustments to the tax regime, which implies a tax treatment based on similar tax burdens under the principle that whoever earns more will contribute more.
In the case of MSMEs, she specified that their taxes will contribute to the municipal budgets, as do the other forms of non-State management, in order to support local development and the growth and sustainability of the social expenses of the territories.
She also referred to the tax incentives that imply a period of tax exemption so that they can start up in better financial and organizational conditions, benefits applicable when they export, participate in wind farms or solar panels, and use renewable energy sources.
The goal is to achieve they are inserted in the productive transformations of the country, with the creation of values, new services, and that they are not subsistence MSMEs, as happens in many countries, but entities with an important contribution to the gross domestic product and Cuban exports, the deputy minister noted.
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