The federation that groups together the colleges of accountants issued on November 13th a statement. The union awaits the publication of the legal instrument in the Gazette to know the details of the measure.
The Federation of Colleges of Public Accountants of Venezuela issued on Wednesday, November 13th, a statement indicating that they are uncertain about the legal guidelines provided to keep accounting records in Petro (PTR), the cryptocurrency that Nicolás Maduro’s government has been promoting since 2017.
In the document, the union expressed uncertainty after Maduro’s announcement, in which he decreed the obligation to keep the accounting records of public and private companies, as well as natural and legal entities, in Petro. There are a total of three issues that accountants highlight about the new state measure.
The federation said that the legal instrument that institutes this requirement for the presentation of financial information in crypto assets has not yet been published, and thus, there is no certainty about its content. It explained that the technical scenario of impact regarding this matter will be analyzed and duly disclosed once the respective guidelines are shown before the obligors.
To discuss the government’s measure, the federation was activated in permanent session while awaiting the official publication of the decree. Venezuelan accountant Silvia Rodríguez reported that the federation’s statement seeks to calm taxpayers in the absence of information.
Rodríguez explained that a legal instrument has not been published for performing the accounting in Petro, but there are only unofficial statements. The intention of the colleges of accountants is that taxpayers should remain calm about it. She said that once it is published in the Official Gazette, pertinent measures will be taken, but at the moment there are no guidelines at all.
Taxes and Sanctions
The opinion expressed by Venezuelan accountants is the most recent episode about the adoption that Maduro’s government intends to lead regarding Petro as a cryptocurrency for commercial and even accounting use, something that does not yet have clear rules. In fact, a group of analysts estimated that accounting records in Petro distort the economy of the oil-producing country.
Maduro revealed last week that his decision to deepen the use of Petro in the accounting arena would be a stimulus for further adoption.
The president of the South American country said that it is a decree through which natural and legal persons, as well as companies, are instructed about the obligatory nature of the records, information and economic facts expressed in sovereign crypto assets, without detriment to their records in bolivars.
It is important to remember that there are US sanctions on Petro and that the citizens of the United States are prohibited from trading with any cryptocurrency related to the Venezuelan government.
Petro is a bet of Maduro’s socialistic government, announced in December 2017, which aims to circumvent the financial blockade imposed by the United States in 2016. However, it has been almost two years since its announcement and Venezuela’s situation tends to become worse rather than better.
By Willmen Blanco
