Germán Ávila, Minister of Finance, speaks in an interview about the new tax reform: "We are open to talks with Congress to make adjustments."

Despite the criticism he has received, in an interview with EL TIEMPO, Finance Minister Germán Ávila defended the financing law, better known as tax reform, which will force some individuals and businesses to pay more taxes. He insists that the bill focuses on the middle-to-high and upper income brackets of the population and denies that spending is "out of control." He warns that if it doesn't pass, a similarly large cut would be necessary next year.

Yes, these would be subject to new taxes. The government believes their consumption should be discouraged to avoid adverse health effects.

The consumption of these types of products has a significant impact on the income of this population. While we expect monetary poverty to increase by 0.3 percentage points, thanks to the government's social programs, it would help reduce it by 2.3 percentage points, meaning it would not only be offset but would also be lowered at the same time.

The project is linked to the 2026 budget and incorporates the new resources into all of the social programs the government has planned for the coming year.

Yes, there would be an increase as some existing exemptions are removed. However, the impact on a gallon of gasoline, which currently averages 16,000 pesos, would be small. It would rise by approximately 460 pesos, and diesel, another 250 pesos.

The share of fossil fuel use among the poorest segments of the population is less than 2 percent of their spending. Therefore, we believe its impact is very small.

There is a small impact on inflation, estimated at around 0.25 points for gasoline and 0.19 for diesel, but it is a very small marginal impact that will not have significant inflationary impacts.

No, on the contrary. What we have established is an explicit exemption from management fees in residential complexes. This is false information.

Only those valued at more than 500,000 pesos , and there are no tickets that cost that much, neither for sporting events such as soccer matches nor for movie or theater tickets.

Domestic tourists are not subject to any type of tax. What we've done is remove the VAT exemption that foreigners had when paying for their accommodation in the country. However, we believe it won't affect tourism, and it does generate significant income for us.

That's not true. The goal is to tax inherited homes that exceed the value of affordable housing.

The marginal rate would begin to increase from 28 to 29 percent for a person with a gross monthly income of more than 10.2 million pesos.

What the reform indicates is that people with monthly incomes exceeding 142 million pesos would see their marginal rate increase from 39 to 41 percent.

Yes, taxes were normally paid on assets close to 3.4 billion pesos, and we want to reduce this to around 2 billion pesos. It's important to keep in mind that the value of the home in which the person lives is deducted.

If those capital investments are to be withdrawn, they will incur an additional tax, which we have raised from 20 to 30 percent. Furthermore, we believe that the narrative that high-income sectors leave the country when they have to pay taxes is not entirely true, given that their potential for growth and profits in production must be developed within the country and through national production.

No, we believe the middle class will not really be affected by the reform, only the upper-middle and upper income brackets, which are those most affected by changes in income and wealth.

We have had an important exchange of views with the members of Congress. We have maintained a good relationship with them and thoroughly reviewed the budget. What we observed is a particular interest in increasing resources in almost all ministries, and obviously, if this project were not implemented and approved , a significant overall budget reduction would be required . This, the members of Congress are aware, is neither possible nor reasonable given the inflexibility of government spending, which generally amounts to more than 92 percent.

If the budget is approved as planned for 556.9 billion pesos and the financing law is not in place, a budget adjustment of this proportion will be necessary. However, we expect it to be analyzed, approved, and shared with Congress along with the law.

We don't believe the cuts will be as large as you've expressed, but we are open to discussions with Congress to make possible general adjustments. Congress members know we need more resources to address programs they also consider important, but if adjustments are necessary, they would have to be agreed upon with Congress in the sectors that would be affected.

A significant portion of these resources will be cut from the budget, and the rest of us have reorganized the budget to address the estimated shortfall in this year's budget.

Operating expenses are neither out of control nor have they grown beyond the economy's growth expectations. In 2026, primary spending is almost the same as it was in 2020 at constant prices, meaning the path has been reasonable. Meanwhile, tax revenues have been growing steadily since 2025, and we believe we can maintain this trend in 2026 as growth has been consolidated.

Our cash flow isn't that low; we're within normal limits. We have a budget that guarantees we'll close the year within normal limits.

We've seen the projections. However, we don't agree with their calculations. The financing law would provide the necessary resources for the government's operations next year.

We have sought exactly the opposite. We are sending signals of protection and encouragement to ensure economic growth. For example, we have not affected the productive sector. We are especially protecting the real sector, industry, and agriculture. One of the tools is the imposition of a tax on low-cost imports, which primarily affects small businesses, which face unfair competition from international platforms that import products into the country. We do believe that efforts should be made in the financial sector.

It was observed that these did not make a sufficient contribution to reducing carbon emissions. Furthermore, the beneficiaries of the exemption were primarily from the upper-middle and upper classes. For this reason, an increase was made.

The tax on luxury goods, such as vehicles valued over $30,000, would be increased from 16 to 19 percent.

What had been happening was that we were accustomed to a one-way market in which there was a certain expectation of comfort, but a very high cost of debt. We have been making transactions that open us up to other types of markets, but we are working on highly stable currencies with very low volatility, and we believe the strategy is yielding results.

We have that limit. However, we hope to have better news regarding the cost of debt and hopefully achieve better results regarding deficit levels.