Tax Controls for Professionals Tightened

In Costa Rica, the Ministry of Finance has announced that it will intensify controls on tax returns submitted by professionals in activities such as medicine, law and accounting, among others.

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

From a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance:

As part of the control actions carried out by the General Department of Taxation (DGT), this month a campaign was launched to monitor the professional sector which includes sending out more than 25 thousand messages.

By e-mail or via text messages to cell phones, the DGT is sending information for taxpayers to proceed to review their declarations and when appropriate, rectify their status with the Treasury. In addition, officials from this department will proceed to review possible inconsistencies that are presented in the declarations.

In addition, as part of this control plan, the tax situation of taxpayers who were previously selected for possible tax risks identified via their income tax declaration for the period 2016 will be verified, on an individual basis. According to research carried out by the DGT, it was identified that more than 50% of professionals submit their declaration without paying any tax.

Cases considered as tax risks, are those in which taxpayers fail to declare income, acquire movable and immovable property that reveal signs of wealth, including personal expenses in statements or loans not related to their business, and payments to relatives, among other things.

Read full press release (in Spanish).

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