Claudia Márquez Linares, Grupo Decoro
HAVANA, December – Lately, self-employed workers are decreasing in
number. When they first appeared, at the beginning of the nineties, the public
had great expectations for the role they would perform, especially in making
produce available at reasonable prices. Now, it seems that they are being
squeezed out.
One self-employed retailer in a produce market in central Havana says: "Things
are difficult lately. You have to be on your toes, or else an inspector will
slice you up. For example, if you have more produce in your stand than you
declared, or if any product is a quarter-pound overweight, or if you declare a
particular product at five pesos and you then sell it at six, the fines are
between 150 and 1,500 pesos. Of course, there are inspectors who’ll go
blind, deaf, and dumb for a few bucks, because they also have to make a living."
"Figure the produce goes from the farmer to the wholesaler before it
gets to us. For instance, a wholesaler will sell us a 100-pound sack of white
beans at 900 pesos. We have to resell at 12 or 13 pesos a pound to clear
something, but people don’t have the money and the merchandise stays
around, and by the time you pay taxes on it every day, you lose money. Then
there is competition from the State markets. Lately, the State will open four or
five markets around a market run by the self-employed. These are supplied by the
State coops, and undersell you. The way it comes out, the State didn’t shut
you down, you gave up."
"Then there are taxes, official and otherwise. Every day you have to
file a tax return for 500 pesos or more of merchandise, whether you have sales
or not. Of that, you have to pay five percent tax on sales and another five
percent for your stall in the market. You no longer have to get a license, as
before, but now, on the side, you have to pay 5 pesos for lighting, 3 pesos for
cleaning, and most important, 10 pesos to the administrator to be able to sell
extra merchandise."
"By the time you get through with all the taxes and payments, you pay
more than you earn."
Versión
original en español
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