FISCAL EFFECTS IN HYDROELECTRIC SETTLEMENTS: THE CASES OF THE RIVERS NEGRO AND NARE BASINS IN COLOMBIA

Abstract

With the presence of hydroelectric settlements in their territory, the municipalities of the eastern and northeastern regions of Antioquia have seen their fiscal and territorial structure affected despite the regulatory compensation established for the electric sector. This article analyses the taxation effects gener­ated by the compensation of property taxes. To do so, different sums received by different municipalities from generating companies are analyzed and an empiric tax analysis is done for both types of territories (with and without hydroelectric settlements). This is how the taxation differential is determined. It is also concluded that, besides the influence of transfers for compensating the loss of the natural capital of the hydroelectric basins, the expansion of the electric sector generates taxation digressivety due to the privileges and exemptions conceived by the law