MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Uruguayan Financial Inclusion Law Mandates Government Payments be Made Electronically, Gives Tax Brake to Cash-less Transactions

The Uruguayan Parliament reportedly has announced the approval of a new financial inclusion law that mandates that workers and retired people must start receiving their paychecks and work benefits through bank accounts or electronic money services within four years. Furthermore, the new law will reduce taxes by 4 and 2 percentage points on purchases made with credit and debit cards, respectively. The law also includes a further reduction of 1 percentage point on taxes for debit and credit cards during the first year of the implementation of the new law. Additionally, the law mandates that workers be able to access credit provided by banks and cooperatives that is repaid directly from their salaries with fees of around 39 percent per year, compared with traditional loans that have a cap of 92 percent. The monthly payments due on these loans cannot exceed 20 percent of a worker’s salary.

By Juan Blanco, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

[1] Espectador, “Ley de Inclusión Financiera “promueve la universalización de derechos al permitir el acceso a los servicios financieros”,” 2014, http://www.espectador.com/economia/289936/ley-de-inclusion-financiera-promueve-la-universalizacion-de-derechos-al-permitir-el-acceso-a-los-servicios-financieros

[2] El Pais, “Las 10 claves de la ley que fija cómo se cobrará el sueldo y se comprará,” by Miguel Noguez, 2014, http://www.elpais.com.uy/economia/noticias/claves-ley-que-fija-se.html

MicroCapital, May 5, 2014, Colombian Government Seeks to Reduce Cost of Remittances

MicroCapital, April 24, 2014, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), World Bank (WB) to Develop National Financial Inclusion Strategy for Pakistan

MicroCapital, March 31, 2014, American Express to Support Financial Inclusion in USA Through Technology Startups, Research, Film

MicroCapital, February 25, 2014, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), MasterCard Partner to Support Financial Inclusion, Transparency in Latin America, Caribbean

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