Cuba sets out rules and taxes for self-employed workers
Ankara, October 26 (AZERTAC). The Cuban authorities have set out in detail new rules and taxes for the self-employed and small businesses as they move to overhaul the economy.
Taxes will range from 25% for incomes more than 5,000 pesos (about $225, £142) a year to 50% for those earning more than 50,000 pesos (about $2,300).
Many self-employed business people will be allowed to hire workers.
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The changes come as the government prepares to cut half a million state jobs by March next year.
Tax is a relatively new concept in Cuba, where the vast majority of people are employed by the state and nothing is deducted from the average salary of $20.
So there were lines of people on Monday to buy copies of the official government gazette which contained details of the hundreds of new rules and regulations covering would-be entrepreneurs.
The gazette also formally listed the 178 activities for which self-employment licences will be granted, including restaurateur, taxi driver, carpenter, electrician and hairdresser.
For the first time since 1968, when Cuba nationalised small businesses, the self-employed working in 83 of these job classes will be allowed to hire staff other than relatives, although they will be subject to a payroll tax.
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