In view of the emergency arising from the spread of covid-19, a bill was submitted to the Assembly proposing a 90-calendar-day suspension of the payment of municipal and national taxes.
The initiative also establishes the suspension for 90 days of the payment of electricity and drinking water, as well as mortgage and personal loans, among others, reported the National Assembly.
Noting that the right to property was violated, the tax that the Mayoral Office of San Salvador charged private companies using a calculation based on their assets has been declared unconstitutional.
The ruling in question eliminates Article 1.021.1 from the rate of Excise Taxes set by the Municipality of San Salvador, San Salvador department, which stated that the municipal tax collection must be calculated based on the assets of companies.
Exemption from taxes and municipal fees are some of the incentives that the Mayor of the Central District of Tegucigalpa is granting to those building parking lots in areas of high road traffic.
Other incentives being offered include the payment of only $0.05 per building permit, regardless of the size of the land where it the parking lot will be built.
A Bill proposes that companies using electricity distribution poles pay municipalities a fee equivalent to 10% of their earnings.
The proposal presented by Deputy Jorge Rodriguez not only includes telecommunications companies, but also any natural or legal person who owns the posts. This proposal also prohibits the new rental fee for the poles being transferred to the final consumer.
The Municipality of Capira has eliminated the recently approved tax of one cent for every load of chicken transported, which was opposed by the poultry sector.
For the third time the Municipality of Capira has failed in its attempt to collect this tax. Even though the tax came into effect in early January, the City Council finally decided to pull back and remove the fee, but has not ruled out review it again in two years time.
On January 2nd the tax paid for building permits issued by the municipality of San Miguelito rose by 40%.
In the last 15 years the cost of building permits in the Municipality of San Miguelito has not been reviewed or adjusted, according to representatives of the entity. Because of this, the municipal authorities announced the increase of 40%, which they attributed the increase in building materials and labor in the last year.
The mining union is opposed to the increase from 1% to 10% for precious metals and the elimination of voluntary royalties to municipalities contemplated in the 2015 budget.
Besides the new tax on the distribution of bags of cement and telephony, increased royalties for the exploitation of minerals and construction materials are also part of the new fiscal package which comes with the 2015 budget.
The private sector is describing as illegal a new municipal tax on vehicles distributing goods in Colon, which ranges from between $15 and $100 depending on the commercial sector.
The measure was opposed by the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama, who argues that it could be replicated by other municipalities, hurting business. However, city officials say the tax has a legal basis.
A reduction has been made from 10% to 5.5% on the municipal tax payable by companies building dams worth $50 million or more in the district of Bugaba, Chiriqui.
The Municipal Council in Chiriquí Bugaba, has repealed all municipal charges related to taxes, and established a new tax regime, which includes a reduction of the fees to be paid by hydroelectric projects.
The municipality of Colon has decided to suspend the collection of $100 tax for each truck distributing chicken, which had started on October 7th.
A similar decision was taken in the district of La Chorrera, where "... the mayor said (to producers) that during his administration he will not establish taxes on farmers, producers and agro-exporters".
The Association of Banks of Panama has filed a lawsuit alleging that the concept of the tax retention agent is unconstitutional.
The Association of Banks of Panama (ABP) believes that the agreement which empowers the Panamanian municipality to select companies that bill more than $5 million as tax retention agents is unconstitutional. The agreement regulated in 2013 turns firms in auditors and collectors of tax for the municipal coffers.
Central American companies on average spend 217 hours and perform 34 different procedures in order to comply with the payment of taxes.
Even though the process for paying taxes are slower than in other regions, the overall tax rate paid by corporations in Central America is still lower than in other countries.
This is indicated in an annual study by PriceWaterHouseCoopers and the World Bank, which analyzes tax systems in 189 countries and compares them according to three indicators: the time it takes to make the payments, the number of procedures that must be carried out and the overall tax rate, which takes into account labour taxes, those on profits and others.
In the first 10 months of 2011, tax revenues reached $4.723 million, 18.4% higher than in the same period in 2010.
The increase in revenue is due in part to a significant increase in the collection of Income Tax (32.9%).
"Pablo Urrutia, analyst from the Association for Research and Social Studies (ASIES in Spanish), thought that in addition to these figures and percentages, it would be necessary to look at other factors, such as prices and inflation. 'Even if more money has been collected, if you do not have better spending there is no real benefit, despite the fact that economic growth has increased’”, reports Siglo21.com.gt.
The government established that the tax paid for horizontal property real estate will be unified at 1%.
It will be applied retroactively from January 1st, explained Alberto Vallarino, Finance Ministry, who acknowledged that a number of homeowners paid more than 1%, due to a misunderstanding of the reform.
“Those who paid more will receive a credit, in the same way as we did with those who had paid the income tax with the rate in place before the tax reform”, reported Prensa.com.