advances

Caracas, October 24, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez announced a series of measures aimed at expanding tax collection.

In a televised broadcast on Wednesday, Rodríguez announced the immediate suspension of the mandatory use of fiscal printers. Introduced in 2018, the devices recorded every transaction and reported it in real time to the country’s National Integrated Customs and Tax Administration Service (SENIAT).

The costly equipment posed a significant barrier for entrepreneurs and small business owners, particularly in the country’s interior, where authorized suppliers are scarce.

Superintendent Román Maniglia said the decision is part of SENIAT’s technological modernization that will pave the way for the gradual introduction of digital invoicing, which will soon be available free of charge to all economic sectors. 

“We seek to lower the barriers to formalization across all sectors, particularly for the smallest businesses, entrepreneurs, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),” he stressed.

Rodríguez also announced a review of the registry of Special Taxpayers, known as “special contributors,” with the list reduced from 132,000 to around 44,000. These are individuals or legal entities that, because of their high income or assets, are subject to additional tax obligations.

According to the acting president, the review will add those who should have been included in this category and remove those who were classified as special taxpayers without meeting the relevant criteria.

Rodríguez said the changes are intended to improve tax services and expand revenue collection. She added that fiscal revenues rose by 27% in October, although she did not specify the basis for comparison or provide a breakdown of the amount collected. 

“We have been discussing the very low number of people who pay taxes in the country. This is a matter of fairness,” she added.

The latest announcements follow prior measures to facilitate tax collection. Earlier in October, SENIAT and banking superintendency SUDEBAN formalized an agreement to exchange information in real time in order to “strengthen revenue collection” and “facilitate the identification of potential tax discrepancies.”

The tax authority is now also interconnected with the Autonomous Service of Registries and Notaries (SAREN), the Administrative Service for Identification, Migration, and Immigration (SAIME), and the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV).

“We have a very important system for cross-referencing information which, together with a new statistical information system, will allow us to start collecting what is owed,” Rodríguez said in this week’s broadcast. She added that the fiscal revenues will be directed to the Venezuela Renace Foundation, which is responsible for repairing and rebuilding homes damaged by the twin earthquakes of June 24.

The acting government has likewise announced a tax reform to be unveiled before the end of 2026. Its stated goal is to “harmonize the tax burden” so that it supports economic growth and private-sector production. 

In parallel, the Rodríguez administration is also pushing labor reform plans alongside private sector lobbies FEDECAMARAS and FEDEINDUSTRIA. The business representatives are proposing a “Law on Labor and Social Consensus,” also referred to as the Labor Emergency Law, that will reportedly reduce labor costs for employers. 

The proposal is being discussed with select trade unions, including the government-aligned Bolivarian Socialist Workers’ Central of Venezuela (CBST).

According to reports, the draft legislation seeks “transitional and alternative solutions” to the crisis in workers’ incomes and the stagnation of the minimum wage, which has remained frozen since 2022 while authorities prioritized non-wage bonuses. The proposal would not formally overhaul the entire Organic Labor Law, Workers and Employees (LOTTT), enacted under President Hugo Chávez in 2012, but labor activists warn that it would effectively sideline some of its provisions.

The landmark 2012 legislation reinstated the retroactive calculation of social benefits and severance based on a worker’s last salary, a provision that business groups want to eliminate, while trade unions consider it a red line. Workers’ organizations have staged multiple protests in recent months, demanding that the Rodríguez administration convert non-wage bonuses into salaries and reinstate collective bargaining rights.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.

Journalists prepare to strike as politicians push through changes that critics say threaten independence.

The Czech Republic’s governing coalition has advanced changes to the funding of public media, despite criticism that it could weaken broadcaster independence.

In a rare overnight vote in the early hours of Saturday, the coalition voted to send the bill to committees for further discussion.

The changes include scrapping the 205 crown ($9.45) household broadcasting fee, and replacing it with funding from the state budget.

The populist government of billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis, backed by the far-right SPD party, has frequently criticised public and private media coverage of its policies and accused some outlets of bias.

Babis promised to scrap the broadcasting fee before taking office last December, and says his three-party government is now fulfilling that pledge to voters.

Public media employees staged a strike against the move in June, saying it would make broadcasters vulnerable to government pressure.

Opposition parties have compared the changes with reforms under neighbouring Hungary’s former Prime Minister, Viktor Orban.

Babis has said the new funding model would be fairer to poorer households and encourage outlets to become more efficient.

“There is no war for independent media,” Babis said on Facebook late on Friday. “There is no fight for democracy and no nationalisation of media is being prepared.”

The proposal would cut funding for Czech Television and Czech Radio by about 15 percent and keep nominal funding unchanged for several years.

Public media are among the most trusted news sources in the Czech Republic, with Czech Television the most-watched broadcaster across several age groups.

A civic group has called a public protest for Sunday, while journalists and other employees at the broadcasters announced a strike for November 3.