In order to dismantle a network of apparent corruption that is accused of illegally obtaining contracts for road maintenance, authorities in Costa Rica conducted 57 raids that included homes, the Presidential House, the MOPT, the Conavi and the CTP.
On the morning of June 14, 2021, about 700 agents of the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) and the Public Prosecutor's Office (Fiscalía) raided 21 dwelling houses, Presidential House, Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT), National Viability Council (Conavi) and Public Transport Council (CTP).
President Carlos Alvarado and the Minister of Tourism Gustavo Segura, signed the Law for the Promotion of Tourist Marinas and Coastal Development, a regulation that modernizes the conditions in which the country's marinas operate.
The law, signed on April 5, authorizes foreign-flagged vessels and their crews to carry out lucrative activities related to aquatic transportation, recreation and tourism within the waters of the national territory, allowing the hiring of national captains and sailors to carry out these practices, informed the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT).
By submitting to the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly a new text of the dual global income bill, the Alvarado administration intends to guarantee the tax exemptions that companies operating in the free trade zone regime already benefit from.
The dual global income bill that was sent last January 22 to the Assembly created confusion among the deputies.
The bill that extends until March 2021 the validity of the regulations that allow companies to reduce working hours was approved in the first debate.
In March 2020, when the first cases of covid-19 were registered, the "Law Authorizing the Reduction of Working Days following the Declaration of National Emergency" was approved. The validity of this regulation expires in December of this year, but a legislative project was approved in the first debate that seeks to extend the validity of the regulation until March 2021.
The Legislative Assembly is preparing to consider, in the first debate, a bill aimed at exempting inactive companies from the obligation to file an income tax return.
The file of this legislative proposal is number 22,307 and was presented by Deputy Pablo Heriberto Abarca. The initiative will be discussed in the Assembly, despite the opposition of the Ministry of Finance.
Because in Costa Rica the regulations authorizing companies to reduce working hours expire in December 2020, businessmen in the tourism sector are asking the Assembly to extend the deadline.
When the first cases of covid-19 were registered, the "Law Authorizing the Reduction of Working Days in view of the National Emergency Declaration" was approved. The validity of this regulation expires next December, but, the businessmen see the need to extend its validity.
For the first time, the country's Courts of Justice sentenced six people to 10 years in prison for tax fraud against the Public Treasury, a sentence that corresponds to the case of a clothing importing company that defrauded over $575,000.
Carlos Vargas, general director of Taxation, indicated that during 16 years the taxpayer who was condemned used all the procedural guarantees until the last instance.
The Costa Rican Tuna Industry Chamber warned about the possibility that the government will publish a decree that would extend the ban zone for the purse tuna fishery to a distance of between 100 and 150 miles from the Pacific coast.
According to the sector's union, this decree, which is in the drafting stage, would put at risk the fulfillment of the export commitments of canned fish to the world's main markets.
A bill is being considered in Costa Rica that proposes to identify each container of this type of beverage with a device, label or sticker in order to prevent smuggling, a measure that, according to business people, would not be effective.
In order to tax the total amount of profits of individuals or corporations based in Costa Rica, regardless of where their profits are generated, a bill was submitted to the Assembly that seeks to amend the Income Tax Law.
Currently in Costa Rica a territorial income system is applied, which consists of taxing profits produced exclusively at the local level. If the Income Tax Law is modified, the situation could change.
In Costa Rica, a bill to give the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce the power to determine the maximum commissions and amounts that may be charged by digital platforms such as UberEats, Glovo, Rappi and Hugo was presented.
From August 4th and during 10 working days, the Central Bank of Costa Rica will submit to public consultation the technical study regarding the First ordinary fixing of commissions of the payment card system and the proposal of Regulations of the Payment Card System.
This study and proposed regulation are being carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Law of Maximum Commissions of the Payment Card System, Law 9831, of March 21, 2020, informed the monetary authority.
Because the Costa Rican Assembly is discussing a bill that seeks to give municipalities the power to declare a dry law in their jurisdiction due to a national emergency, hotels, restaurants and tourist establishments are asking to be exempted from the rule.
The Legislative Plenary approved in first debate the file 21,281 Law to restrict the commercialization of drinks with alcohol content in sports activities and shows, this after the initiative had to be taken back to first debate to amend some details that the deputies considered necessary, informed the Assembly on July 16.
A guideline was issued prohibiting the planting of pineapple, banana, rice, grasses, oil palm and other monocultures in forest reserves, buffer zones, national parks, biological reserves, national wildlife refuges, wetlands and natural monuments.
According to Directive No. 0006-2020 of June 26 issued by the Ministry of Environment and Energy (Minae), it exempts forestry plantations from the prohibitions contained in the document.
Costa Rican businessmen support a bill that seeks to modify or suspend payment methods and other contractual conditions of leases in cases of force majeure, such as the current health emergency.
In the context of the propagation of covid-19, the Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce (CCCR) sees with total positivism the plan of relief in the leases, as much for the families, as for the commercial activity, proposal made by the deputy Pedro Muñoz in the Project, file No. 21.851, reason why we requested to be convoked in extraordinary sessions for its discussion.