BANKING AND FINANCE

The Venezuelan Central Bank (VCB) established the interest rates applicable to the obligations derived from employment relationships (59.36% and 47.68% - March 2025) and to operations with credit cards (60.00% annual maximum lending rate and 17.00% annual minimum lending rate April 2025). (Official Gazette of 04/14/2025. Official Notice. Entry into force: Upon publication in the Official Gazette).

The Ministries of the Popular Power for National Trade and for Electric Energy issued the following resolutions:

1. Joint Resolution No. 006/2025 and 013/2025 that establishes the technical regulations on energy efficiency labeling of refrigerating and freezing appliances for household use.
2. Joint Resolution No. 007/2025 and 014/2025 that establishes the technical regulations on energy efficiency labeling of air conditioners.
   (Official Gazette of 04/02/2025. Entry into force: As from six (6) months following its publication in the Official Gazette).

TAX

The Ministry of the Popular Power for Economy and Finance resolved to delete Complementary Note 3 of Chapter 87 of article 37 of Decree No. 4.944, dated 04/24/2024, published in Official Gazette No. 6.804 Extraordinary of 04/25/2024, through which the Schedule of Customs Duties was issued. Therefore, in the case of the importation of motor vehicles and chassis with engine and of motor vehicles with no engine, the requirement of Conformity of the Mobile Source Emission Certificate and of Mobile Source Emission Certificate, respectively, was removed. (Official Gazette of 04/14/2025. Resolution No. 010/2025. Entry into force: Upon publication in the Official Gazette).

MISCELLANEOUS

The Ministry of the Popular Power for National Trade issued Resolution No. 019/2025 that establishes the technical regulations on raw material for footwear. (Official Gazette of 04/04/2025. Entry into force: As from six (6) months following its publication in the Official Gazette).

The Ministries of the Popular Power for Productive Agriculture and Lands, for Defense, for Hydrocarbons, for Internal Affairs, Justice and Peace, and for Transportation issued a joint resolution that establishes the control mechanisms for carriers and end users of mineral or chemical fertilizers in the national territory. (Official Gazette of 04/23/2025. Joint Resolution DM/No. 031/2025, DM/No. 059115/2025, DM/No. 003-2025/2025, DM/No. 018/2025, DM/No. 0020/2025. Effectiveness: From 04/01/2025 up to and including 03/31/2026).

The Ministry of the Popular Power for Transportation established the minimum and maximum rates for urban transportation service. Likewise, it established the maximum official rate for suburban routes nationwide to be charged by the providers of the public service of ground passenger transportation. The Official Request published in Official Gazette of 11/22/2024 was revoked. (Official Gazette of 04/24/2025. Official Request and Resolution No. 021. Entry into force: Upon publication in the Official Gazette).

Miscellaneous

The Ministry of the Popular Power for Transportation, through a Resolution, decided to establish, regulate, and implement the rates of the services and activities connected to the aquatic sector and of the ground transportation service provided by the National institute of Aquatic Spaces (Instituto Nacional de los Espacios Acuáticos) and the natural or legal persons duly authorized to provide services in the ship-port interface established in said Resolution. Resolution No. 033, published in Official Gazette of 05/03/2018, and Resolution No. 022, published in Official Gazette of 05/28/2020, are repealed. Any rule with an equal or lower status that conflicts with the Resolution is repealed. (Official Gazette of 02/13/2025. Resolution No. 052. Entry into force: Upon publication in the Official Gazette).

A Presidential Decree issued the Partial Regulations to the Decree with the Status, Value, and Force of Organic Law that Reserves to the State the Activities of Exploration and Exploitation of Gold and other Strategic Minerals, in relation to Mining Brigades. Said Regulations rule the matters concerning Mining Brigades as a form of organization of natural persons intended for the exercise of activities of exploration, exploitation, preparation, possession, circulation, and transportation exercised by small-scale mining.
(Official Gazette of 02/24/2025. Decree No. 5.097. Entry into force: Upon publication in the Official Gazette).

The Superintendence of Public Property (Superintendencia de Bienes Públicos - SUDEBIP) issued the rules applicable to the periodic review of public property lease agreements. The purpose of said rules is to establish the guidelines that are applicable to the periodic review of lease agreements of the personal or real property categorized as public property that is assigned to or owned by the agencies and entities of the Public Sector and of that in which the agencies and entities of the Public Sector act as lessees.

Said rules provide as follows:

• The agencies and entities of the Public Sector and the natural or legal persons that give under lease a personal or real property categorized as public property must notify it through an official letter to the SUDEBIP.
  
  
• The enterprises or companies with a mixed capital in which the Public Sector has an interest lower than 50% of the corporate capital must send to the SUDEBIP the inventory list of the personal or real property categorized as public property given under lease.
  
  
• The SUDEBIP may require that the private institutions, as well as the individuals, that in the capacity as lessees have custody of or possess personal or real property categorized as public property provide it with the data and reports that it deems necessary and that they send to the SUDEBIP the records or inventories of said property. The public property categorized as property of the public domain is excluded from the application of the rules.
  

(Official Gazette of 02/26/2025. Administrative Ruling No. 007. Entry into force: Upon publication in the Official Gazette).

In the Official Gazette No. 6,890 Extraordinary, dated March 6, 2025, Decree No. 5,104 of the same date (Customs Exemptions Decree - the “Decree”) was published, issued by the Presidency of the Republic. This Decree establishes import tax and value-added tax exemptions for the goods and sectors specified therein.

The exemptions established by the Decree are as follows:

• A 90% exemption from Import Tax and a 90% exemption from Value-Added Tax is granted for the definitive importation of new or used tangible personal property classified under the tariff codes listed in Appendix I of the Decree. These imports must be carried out by agencies and entities of the National Public Administration or by natural or legal persons using their own resources. (Art. 3). This tax benefit applies automatically.
• Import Tax and Value-Added Tax are exempted for the definitive importation of tangible personal property classified under the tariff codes listed in Appendix II of the Decree, provided that the imports are carried out exclusively by the Ministry of Popular Power for Electric Energy or its affiliated agencies and entities. (Art. 4)
• Import Tax and Value-Added Tax are exempted for the definitive importation of tangible personal property classified under the tariff codes listed in Appendix III of the Decree, provided that the imports are carried out exclusively by the Ministry of Popular Power for Water Services or its affiliated agencies and entities. (Art. 5)
• Import Tax and Value-Added Tax are exempted for the definitive importation of tangible personal property classified under the tariff codes listed in Appendix IV of the Decree, provided that the imports are carried out exclusively by the Ministry of Popular Power for Ecological Mining Development or its affiliated agencies and entities, as well as those carried out exclusively by the Venezuelan Corporation of Guayana (CVG) or its affiliated companies. (Art. 6)

The Decree states that, in order to benefit from the exemptions established in Chapter II (On Exemptions), beneficiaries must comply with the common requirements specified in Chapter III when registering their declaration. (Art. 7)

The exemption benefit provided in the Decree will apply as of the date of registration of the respective Customs Declaration for importation. (Art. 15)

Failure to comply with any of the conditions by the beneficiaries will result in the loss of the exemption benefit established in the Decree. In such cases, the imported goods subject to the benefit will be considered taxable, without prejudice to any applicable penalties. (Art. 16)

Likewise, the exemption benefit will be revoked for those who: (i) fail to comply with the periodic evaluation requirements established in Articles 13 and 14 of the Decree and the parameters set by SENIAT; (ii) fail to comply with the obligations established in the Constituent Decree enacting the Organic Tax Code and other tax regulations, as well as in the Organic Customs Law; (iii) fall under any of the cases specified in Article 177 of the Organic Customs Law. (Art. 17)

Without prejudice to the provisions of the Decree, the National Executive may issue the Certificate of No National Production (CNP) or the Certificate of Insufficient National Production (CPNI) in accordance with the Law on Value-Added Tax, even if the goods for which the certificate is issued are classified under one of the tariff codes contained in Appendix I of the Decree. (Art. 18)

The Minister responsible for economy, finance, and foreign trade may, by resolution, add or remove tariff codes from the Appendices of the Decree, as well as create or eliminate Appendices. (Art. 19)

The exemption benefits established in the Decree will apply from its effective date until June 30, 2025. (Art. 22)

Decree No. 5,071 of December 27, 2024, published in Official Gazette No. 6,869 Extraordinary of the same date, is repealed. (Art. 23)

The Decree came into effect five (5) business days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

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