The Competition Tribunal ruled in favor of Asociación de Transporte Marítimo, Lacustre, Fluvial y Turístico Sur Austral A.G. (Armasur)’s inquiry, declaring that article 36, paragraph 9, of Decree Law N° 825 of 1974 (Value Added Tax Law) is contrary to free competition. Therefore, the Tribunal proposed its modification to the President of the Republic, through the Minister of Finance, with the objective of ending the arbitrary discrimination said clause causes.
The Tribunal considered that this legal disposition is contrary to free competition because, as the Chilean Internal Revenue Service recognized in the inquiry process, there is a discriminatory treatment that favors foreign cruise companies over national companies, regarding recoupment of VAT paid for port services in Regions I. XI and XII.