General Appropriations and Taxation Act, 1758

General Appropriations and Taxation Act, 1758

13th Cortes Federales
Long title	An Act to appropriate funds and impose taxation for the operation of the Government of the Federation of Nouvelle Alexandrie for the year 1758; to provide targeted measures of economic recovery in the Regions of Alduria and Oportia; to authorize a drawing from the National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund; among other purposes.
Introduced by	The Council of State
Extent	Entire Federation of Nouvelle Alexandrie
Dates
Royal Assent	2.IV.1758 AN
Commencement	2.IV.1758 AN
Other legislation
Amendments	None
Related legislation	Aldurian Economic Diversification and Recovery Act, 1755 Alexandrium Sustainability and Strategic Management Act, 1750 Cajamarca Reconstruction Act, 1757 General Appropriations and Taxation Act, 1730

The General Appropriations and Taxation Act, 1758 (Alexandrian: Loi générale de crédits et d'imposition, 1758; Martino: Ley General de Apropiaciones y Tributación, 1758) is a law of Nouvelle Alexandrie that enacts the revised federal budget for 1758 AN. The Act appropriates NAX€20,941.9 billion against projected receipts of NAX€19,360.0 billion, leaving a deficit of NAX€1,581.9 billion, about 3.1 percent of projected output, in the first budget written after the 1757 Alexandrium market crash and the Recession of 1757 that followed it.

The bill was introduced in the Federal Assembly by the Council of State on 8.I.1758 AN and tabled by Treasury Secretary Warren Ferdinand. It answers the roughly NAX€55 billion a year the Treasury's revised forecast removed from Alexandrium revenue by protecting the producing Regions rather than cutting into them: it accelerates spending under the Aldurian Economic Diversification and Recovery Act, 1755, adds a parallel transition measure for Oportia, meets part of the cost through savings and deferrals elsewhere, and bridges the remainder with a NAX€220 billion drawing from the National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund. Tax rates are carried forward from 1757 AN without change.

The government secured passage in the Federal Assembly with the votes of the Aldurian Independent Coalition, whose coordinator Émile Bouchard had said the Coalition would judge the budget by what reaches Alduria. The Assembly passed the bill on 1.IV.1758 AN by 503 votes to 216, with 30 abstentions or absences recorded. The Chamber of Peers concurred without amendment and without division under expedited proceedings later that day. King Sinchi Roca II granted Royal Assent on 2.IV.1758 AN, and the Act came into force immediately.

Background

The budget was drafted against the collapse in the export price of Alexandrium known as the Glut of 1757. Across 1757 AN new supply outran demand as production discipline frayed among the members of the Euran Alexandrium Coordination Organization, and the price broke on 5.XII.1757 AN, falling by roughly a quarter from its peak near NAX€2,900 a gram to NAX€2,117. Because the Unified Alexandrium Resource Authority levy of NAX€65 a gram is charged on weight rather than price, the headline Alexandrium line held while everything indexed to value fell with the price: the taxation of producer profits, the Alexandrium share of the trade surplus, and the regional revenue of Alduria.

On 12.XIII.1757 AN the Treasury abandoned the long-run price assumption the year's budgets had rested on, lowered it to about NAX€2,150 a gram, and cut projected Alexandrium revenue for 1758 AN by about NAX€55 billion. The shortfall fell on accounts already carrying the year's commitments, among them the Cajamarca reconstruction program and the Sapphire Jubilee Bridge-Tunnel supplementary. The Counter-Cyclical Stabilization Mechanism of the Alexandrium Sustainability and Strategic Management Act, 1750 activated for the first time, drawing on the Federation's reserves to hold program funding through the shock, and the Euran Alexandrium Coordination Organization adopted a reference-price floor near NAX€2,150 a gram at Fontainebleau on 24.XIII.1757 AN. The floor steadied the price near where it had settled without lifting it.

Ferdinand told the Cortes the government would bring a revised budget in the new year setting out how it proposed to meet the gap. This bill is that budget. Presenting it, he described the reserve drawing as "a bridge and not a habit," and said the government would not balance the budget "on the backs of the Regions that dig the mineral the whole Federation lived on." Leader of the Opposition Marcos Ferreira Gonçalves called the plan too little and too late for the Regions it claimed to shield, while Francisco Gabaza of the Federal Consensus Party called a fourth call on the reserves in a single year reckless.

Key provisions

The bill carries every tax rate and bracket forward from 1757 AN unchanged. Those rates and thresholds, set out in the Act's Schedule of rates, had been revised in the years since the General Appropriations and Taxation Act, 1730. The bill imposes no new taxes and raises none, holding the Unified Alexandrium Resource Authority volume levy at NAX€65 a gram and the Federal Sovereign Wealth Fund contribution tax at 8 percent. It also directs the Treasury to index the income tax thresholds and the contribution ceiling to average earnings from 1759 AN. The adjustment to the crash falls entirely on the spending and financing side.

On spending, the bill appropriates NAX€20,941.9 billion, of which NAX€20,058.5 billion funds departmental programs and NAX€883.4 billion services the interest on the public debt. Within the program total sit the budget's three targeted measures. An additional NAX€10 billion accelerates the Aldurian Economic Diversification and Recovery Act, 1755, roughly doubling the program's annual tranche in 1758 AN. A new NAX€8 billion transition measure extends parallel support to the extraction communities of Oportia, in its second year inside the federal budget. Against these, NAX€15 billion of savings and deferrals are identified across other departments, falling most heavily on Defense, State, Education, and Trade and Industry. The commitments already voted are held in full, including the Cajamarca reconstruction program and the Sapphire Jubilee Bridge-Tunnel supplementary.

On financing, the bill authorizes a drawing of up to NAX€220 billion from the National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund, taken in four quarterly installments under the Counter-Cyclical Stabilization Mechanism of the Alexandrium Sustainability and Strategic Management Act, 1750, and net new borrowing of up to NAX€1,361.9 billion to cover the remainder of the deficit. The drawing spends from an asset rather than adding to the debt; the fund's balance falls from NAX€2,000 billion to NAX€1,780 billion over the year. The bill also directs the Federation's half-share of Federal Sovereign Wealth Fund investment returns, some NAX€400 billion, into general revenues under the fund's standing distribution policy, and continues the statutory requirement that 12 percent of federal Alexandrium revenues, about NAX€29.8 billion in 1758 AN, be directed into non-resource investment.

Economic and fiscal outlook

The budget is constructed on the Treasury's revised post-crash assumptions. The Federation's economy is projected to contract in real terms in 1758 AN as the downturn broadens from the producing Regions, with unemployment rising toward 9 percent, while the Alexandrium price is assumed to hold near the reference floor adopted at Fontainebleau.

Economic assumptions underlying the 1758 AN budget

Indicator	Assumption
Real GDP growth	−2.0%
Nominal GDP	NAX€50,348 billion
Unemployment rate	8.6%
Inflation	2.4%
Alexandrium price	~NAX€2,117 per gram (near the EACO reference floor of NAX€2,150)
Population	514.1 million

The fiscal position deteriorates against 1757 AN. Total receipts rise 1.0 percent while Alexandrium receipts fall 19.4 percent, from NAX€308 billion to NAX€248 billion, a decline of about NAX€60 billion that corresponds to the shortfall the Treasury's revised forecast identified. Outlays rise 2.6 percent and the deficit widens by some NAX€330 billion.

Fiscal summary, 1758 AN (NAX€ billions)

Item		Amount
Total receipts		19,360.0
	of which general and tax receipts	19,111.8
	of which Alexandrium federal receipts	248.2
Total outlays		20,941.9
	of which departmental programs	20,058.5
	of which debt interest	883.4
Overall balance		−1,581.9 (−3.1% of GDP)
Financing: National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund drawing		220.0
Financing: net borrowing		1,361.9
Public debt, end of year		30,613.7 (60.8% of GDP)
National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund, end of year		1,780.0

Receipts by tax head

Receipts are projected head by head at the rates carried forward from 1757 AN. The personal income tax and the social solidarity tax are the two largest sources, followed by the value added tax and the corporate tax. The 8 percent Federal Sovereign Wealth Fund contribution tax, projected at NAX€97.6 billion, is deposited directly into the fund and is excluded from operating receipts, as are the 40 percent Aldurian share of the Alexandrium volume levy and the levy's per-gram fund allocations under the Alexandrium Sustainability and Strategic Management Act, 1750.

Projected federal receipts by head, 1758 AN (NAX€ billions)

Receipt head	Amount
Federal corporate tax	1,762.2
Federal income tax	7,304.2
Income tax credits	−883.6
Value added tax	2,013.9
Customs and import duties	100.7
Social solidarity tax	6,899.4
Unemployment insurance tax	591.4
Gift and estate tax	414.6
Federal Sovereign Wealth Fund dividends	400.0
Alexandrium federal receipts	248.2
Idle lands tax	138.7
Carbon tax	95.5
Petroleum tax	92.3
Documentary stamp tax	58.6
Tobacco tax	44.5
Real estate tax	39.0
Other receipts	40.4
Total receipts	19,360.0

Alexandrium federal receipts comprise the NAX€65 a gram volume levy, projected at NAX€30.5 billion, and value-indexed taxation of the sector, projected at NAX€217.7 billion at the assumed price. Other receipts group the repatriation, capital gains, gambling, firearms, liquor and wine, deforestation, airline ticket, tourist, and licit drug taxes.

Legislative history

Legislative history of the General Appropriations and Taxation Act, 1758 AN

Stage	Date	Chamber	Action	Votes (Y-N-A)	Details
1	8.I.1758 AN	Federal Assembly	Introduction	-	Introduced by the Council of State; tabled by Treasury Secretary Warren Ferdinand
2	12.II.1758 AN	Federal Assembly	Committee report	-	Reported without amendment by the Budget and Finances Committee
3	24.II.1758 AN	Federal Assembly	Final debate closed; division ordered	-	The Aldurian Independent Coalition committed its twelve votes after Treasury Secretary Warren Ferdinand undertook to publish quarterly statements of disbursements under the bill's Aldurian and Oportian measures
4	1.IV.1758 AN	Federal Assembly	Final division	503-216-30	Passed; sent to the Chamber of Peers
5	1.IV.1758 AN	Chamber of Peers	Concurrence	-	Passed without amendment and without division under expedited proceedings
6	2.IV.1758 AN	-	Royal Assent	-	Assented to by King Sinchi Roca II; came into force

The bill reached the floor with neither the opposition nor the government's own fiscal wing satisfied. The Democratic Socialist opposition under Marcos Ferreira Gonçalves pressed for a larger and faster program for the Regions, while the Federal Consensus Party of Francisco Gabaza opposed any further drawing on the reserves. The government's majority rested on the twelve deputies of the Aldurian Independent Coalition, whose coordinator Émile Bouchard withheld both support and refusal on the bill's first day, saying the Coalition would read the clauses and judge the budget by what reaches Alduria.

The Budget and Finances Committee reported the bill without amendment on 12.II.1758 AN. In the closing hours of the final floor debate, Bouchard asked Ferdinand to place delivery of the bill's two regional programs on the public record. Ferdinand undertook to publish quarterly statements of what the Aldurian acceleration and the Oportian transition measure had paid out. On that undertaking, the Coalition committed its twelve votes and the division was ordered at the close of debate on 24.II.1758 AN.

In the final division, the Federal Humanist Party and the Federal Consensus Party voted for the bill alongside the twelve Coalition independents. The Democratic Socialist Party and the Wakara People's Party voted against it. The Civic Governance Alliance and the remaining twenty independent deputies were recorded as abstaining or absent.

As a bill appropriating revenue and imposing taxation, the measure could not originate in the Chamber of Peers, and the Peers could not amend it. On receiving the bill, the Chamber agreed to proceed without further discussion and concurred without amendment and without division on 1.IV.1758 AN. King Sinchi Roca II granted Royal Assent the following day, bringing the Act into force on 2.IV.1758 AN.

Bill as submitted to the "Hopper" of the Federal Assembly, 1758 AN

General Appropriations and Taxation Act, 1758

THE READING OF
A
BILL
TO
appropriate funds and impose taxation for the operation of the Government of the Federation of Nouvelle Alexandrie for the year 1758; to provide targeted measures of economic recovery in the Regions of Alduria and Oportia; to authorize a drawing from the National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund; among other purposes.

General Appropriations and Taxation Act, 1758

Presented by the Council of State
Ordered, by the Cortes Federales of Nouvelle Alexandrie,
to be Printed, 8.I.1758 AN.

BE IT ENACTED by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Cortes Federales, in this present session assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-

ARTICLE I
CITATION

Article 1: Citation.

1. This Act may be cited as the "General Appropriations and Taxation Act, 1758".

ARTICLE II
TAXATION

Article 2: Continuation of rates.

1. The tax rates, brackets, credits, allowances, and exemptions in force on the last day of 1757 AN shall continue in force for the year 1758 AN without amendment.
2. The rates and thresholds of the federal income tax, the social solidarity tax, and the unemployment insurance tax continued by this Article are those set out in the Schedule of rates. The Secretary of the Treasury must adjust each threshold and the contribution ceiling, in line with average earnings as the Nouvelle Alexandrie Statistics Bureau determines them, with effect from the first day of each year after 1758 AN, and must publish the adjusted figures before that day.
3. No new tax is imposed by this Act, and no tax is imposed on the Regions.

Article 3: Alexandrium taxation.

1. The Unified Alexandrium Resource Authority levy is maintained at NAX€65 per gram of Alexandrium extracted, allocated among the funds and purposes provided by the Alexandrium Sustainability and Strategic Management Act, 1750.
2. The reduced levy rates for recycled Alexandrium under that Act continue unchanged.
3. The distribution of levy revenue, sixty per centum (60%) to federal programs and forty per centum (40%) to the Region of Alduria, continues as provided by Article 25 of that Act.

Article 4: Federal Sovereign Wealth Fund contribution.

1. The Federal Sovereign Wealth Fund Tax is maintained at eight per centum (8%). Its receipts, projected at NAX€97,600,000,000 for the year, shall be deposited into the Federal Sovereign Wealth Fund and shall not be available for appropriation.

Article 5: Administration.

1. The Secretary of the Treasury shall provide rules and regulations to implement this Article.

ARTICLE III
APPROPRIATIONS

Article 6: General appropriation.

1. The following sums are hereby appropriated out of the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the operation of the Government of the Federation of Nouvelle Alexandrie for the year 1758 AN:

Overview of appropriations, departmental breakdown

Department	Appropriation (NAX€ billions)	% of total
Department of Treasury	434.5	2.1%
Federal Sovereign Wealth Fund	146.1	0.7%
Department of Interior	766.5	3.7%
Department of State	381.5	1.8%
Department of Defense	2,640.4	12.6%
Department of Justice	329.8	1.6%
Department of Labor	2,732.2	13.0%
Department of Civil Works and Transportation	1,424.8	6.8%
Department of Education, Culture, and Sports	1,323.9	6.3%
Department of Social Security and National Solidarity	2,345.4	11.2%
Department of Energy and Environment	1,020.7	4.9%
Department of Research and Development	612.2	2.9%
Department for National Mobilisation	831.9	4.0%
Department of Trade and Industry	135.9	0.6%
Department of Housing and Urban Development	306.7	1.5%
Regional Budget	4,251.1	20.3%
Others	374.9	1.8%
Debt Repayment and Servicing	883.4	4.2%
Total	20,941.9

Article 7: Targeted recovery measures.

1. There is appropriated, within the sums in Article 6, an additional NAX€10,000,000,000 to accelerate the program established by the Aldurian Economic Diversification and Recovery Act, 1755, to be disbursed through the authority and strands established by that Act.
2. There is appropriated, within the sums in Article 6, NAX€8,000,000,000 for a transition measure for the extraction communities of the Region of Oportia, administered by the Council of State in coordination with the regional government and modeled on the transition strand of the Act named in paragraph 1.
3. Savings and deferrals of NAX€15,000,000,000 are identified within the appropriations in Article 6, and no appropriation to the programs of the Cajamarca Reconstruction Act, 1757 or to the Sapphire Jubilee Bridge-Tunnel supplementary is reduced by this Act.

ARTICLE IV
RESERVE AND SPECIAL FUND AUTHORIZATIONS

Article 8: National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund drawing.

1. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to draw up to NAX€220,000,000,000 from the National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund in the year 1758 AN, in quarterly installments, pursuant to the Counter-Cyclical Stabilization Mechanism established by Article 32 of the Alexandrium Sustainability and Strategic Management Act, 1750.
2. A drawing under this Article is a disposition of assets and shall not be accounted as borrowing.
3. The Secretary shall report each drawing to the Cortes Federales within thirty (30) days.

Article 9: Federal Sovereign Wealth Fund distribution.

1. The distribution to the budget of one half of the annual investment returns of the Federal Sovereign Wealth Fund, projected at NAX€400,000,000,000 for the year, is received into general revenues under the fund's standing distribution policy.

ARTICLE V
FINANCING AND DEBT MANAGEMENT

Article 10: Borrowing authority.

1. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to borrow on the credit of the Federation such sums as are necessary to finance the deficit under this Act, not exceeding NAX€1,361,900,000,000 in net new borrowing.

Article 11: Debt service and repayment.

1. Of the sums appropriated in Article 6, NAX€883,400,000,000 shall service the interest on the public debt.
2. The Secretary shall in addition conduct repayments of principal of approximately NAX€306,000,000,000 as debt-management operations, financed within the borrowing authority of Article 10 and not accounted as expenditure.

ARTICLE VI
COMMENCEMENT AND APPLICATION

Article 12: Commencement and application.

1. This Act shall apply to all of the Federation of Nouvelle Alexandrie.
2. This Act shall not become law unless it has been given Royal Assent by H.M. King Sinchi Roca II.
3. This Act shall be published in the Federal Gazette and made publicly available within seven (7) days of Royal Assent.
4. This Act shall have effect for the whole of the year 1758 AN, save that the second paragraph of Article 2 continues in force until repealed.
5. In the event any provision or part of this Act is found to be invalid or unenforceable, only that particular provision or part so found, and not the entire Act, shall be inoperative.

SCHEDULE OF RATES
CONTINUED BY ARTICLE 2

The following rates are in force for the year 1758 AN.

Federal income tax

Band	Taxable income	Rate
Personal allowance		NAX€12,000
First band	Up to NAX€25,000	10%
Second band	NAX€25,000 to NAX€55,000	20%
Third band	NAX€55,000 to NAX€110,000	30%
Fourth band	NAX€110,000 to NAX€230,000	35%
Fifth band	Above NAX€230,000	40%

Social contributions

Contribution	Employee	Employer	Self-employed
Social solidarity tax	17.5%	17.5%	35%
Unemployment insurance tax	1.5%	1.5%	3%
Contribution ceiling	NAX€230,000 of annual earnings; no contribution is due on earnings above it

Amendments

No amendments to date.

Voting record

The Act passed the Federal Assembly by 503 votes to 216, with 30 deputies abstaining or absent. All 372 Federal Humanist Party deputies and all 119 Federal Consensus Party deputies voted in favor, joined by the twelve members of the Aldurian Independent Coalition. The 196 Democratic Socialist Party deputies and twenty Wakara People's Party deputies voted against. The ten Civic Governance Alliance deputies and the remaining twenty independent deputies abstained or were absent.

Federal Assembly final reading (1.IV.1758 AN)

Notable votes on the General Appropriations and Taxation Act, 1758 AN

Deputy	Region	Party	Vote	Role/Notes
José Manuel Montero	Wechua Nation	FHP		Premier; the budget was a government measure
Émile Bouchard	Alduria	Independent		Coordinator of the Aldurian Independent Coalition; backed the bill after the quarterly reporting undertaking
Marcos Ferreira Gonçalves	Santander	DSP		Leader of the Opposition; the DSP opposed the government's fiscal settlement
Yuiza Bohi'o	Boriquén	WPP		Leader of the Wakara People's Party; the party's twenty deputies voted with the DSP
Francisco Gabaza	Santander	FCP		Leader of the Federal Consensus Party; the party supported passage despite his objections to another reserve drawing
Tomás Iñiguez	North Lyrica	CGA		Floor leader of the Civic Governance Alliance; the party abstained

Vote summary by party

Federal Assembly final reading, 1.IV.1758 AN

Political party	Yes	No	Abstain/absent	Total	% Support
Federal Humanist Party (FHP)	372	0	0	372	100%
Democratic Socialist Party (DSP)	0	196	0	196	0%
Federal Consensus Party (FCP)	119	0	0	119	100%
Wakara People's Party (WPP)	0	20	0	20	0%
Civic Governance Alliance (CGA)	0	0	10	10	0%
Independent	12	0	20	32	37.5%
Total	503	216	30	749	67.2%

Analysis

Passage rested on the Federal Humanist Party, the Aldurian Independent Coalition, and the Federal Consensus Party. The Coalition supplied the government's working majority after Treasury Secretary Warren Ferdinand undertook to publish quarterly statements on the Aldurian and Oportian measures. The Federal Consensus Party supported the bill despite Francisco Gabaza's objections to a fourth drawing on the reserves in one year.

The Democratic Socialist Party and the Wakara People's Party voted together against the bill. The Democratic Socialists argued that the regional measures were too small and too late, while the Civic Governance Alliance and twenty unaligned independents did not vote on either side. The division authorized the reserve drawing and borrowing needed to finance the 1758 AN deficit without changing the tax rates inherited from 1757 AN.

Chamber of Peers

The Chamber of Peers considered the bill under the rules governing taxation and appropriation measures, which prevent the Chamber from amending such bills. After a motion to vote without further discussion was seconded, the Chamber concurred without amendment and without division on 1.IV.1758 AN.

Royal Assent

King Sinchi Roca II granted Royal Assent on 2.IV.1758 AN, and the Act came into force that day.

See also

• NBC Newsfeed/1758
• Recession of 1757
• 1757 Alexandrium market crash
• Federal budget of Nouvelle Alexandrie
• Aldurian Economic Diversification and Recovery Act, 1755
• Alexandrium Sustainability and Strategic Management Act, 1750
• Cajamarca Reconstruction Act, 1757
• General Appropriations and Taxation Act, 1730