Until January 13, 2020, the Sworn Declaration of Liquidation of the Selective Consumption Tax on Soft Drinks may be presented in Panama, corresponding to November 2019.
Law 114 dated November 18, 2019, which entered into force on November 19, 2019, establishes a new rate for the Selective Excise Tax on Soft Drinks, which is why the e-Tax 2.0 system was modified. Due to these changes, the authorities decided to extend the deadline for filing this return, corresponding to the November 2019 period.
Panamanian industrialists consider that the approach under which the new tax of 7% on carbonated beverages and 5% on other sugary beverages was defined uses discriminatory fiscal measures.
On November 18, Law 114 was published in the Official Journal, entitled "What creates the Action Plan to Improve Health and dictates other provisions to establish the selective tax on the consumption of sugary beverages and the criteria for its use", which stipulates a 7% tax on carbonated beverages, 5% for other sugary beverages and 10% for syrups, and sugar concentrates for the production of sugary beverages.
For interest, penalties or surcharges to be 100% forgiven, taxpayers will have until November 30,
2019 to pay their overdue taxes.
On September 26, the National Assembly approved Bill 78 of 2019, which aims to exonerate from interest, surcharges and fines of taxes that are delinquent and owed by taxpayers.
In Panama, was approved a new law that extends the scope of the Special Free Port System for the province of Colon, through the exclusion of tax payments for the import of goods, both for domestic and non-domestic.
"Public debt in terms of simple average for the Central American region will continue growing, reaching 43.1% of GDP in 2018, after having registered 42.5% in 2017."
The Central American Institute of Fiscal Studies (Icefi) estimates that for the current year the size of public expenditure of the Central Government in relation to the respective Gross Domestic Product of each country will be 21.4% in Costa Rica, 20.4% in El Salvador, 20% in Honduras, 18.4% in Nicaragua, 17.6% in Panama and 12.1% in Guatemala.
In Panama, a bill that regulates the activities of call centers has been approved, leaving companies in the sector free of direct and indirect taxes.
The National Assembly reported that, in a third debate, approval was given to Bill 653 which regulates the activity of call centers for commercial use.
The good functioning of the institution in charge of collecting taxes is vital for ensuring economic development, as it means that honest companies who comply with their fiscal obligations are not at a disadvantage to those who don't.
From 2018 an agreement will be in effect on the exchange of financial and tax information of accounts of Argentines in Panama and of Panamanians in the South American country.
From a statement issued by the Federal Public Revenue Administration of Argentina:
In Costa Rica, the Ministry of Finance is using a predictive model designed with data mining techniques to determine the behavioral patterns of companies that might be circumventing tax payments.
Analyzing and crossing checking historical information from multiple databases, the statistical model used by the Directorate General of Taxation attempts to predict which companies are more likely to evade paying taxes depending on their historical behavior measured through transactions, tax returns and other data.By linking all of the information, they identify patterns of behavior similar to those of other companies that have evaded taxes in the past.
According to the ICEFI, "tax incentive policies seem to be a lost opportunity because of permanent tax expenses and the lack of tangible social benefits."
From a statement issued by the ICEFI:
Within the framework of the international meeting on Tax Justice and Transnational Fraud, held in Costa Rica, a study was presented on October 20 entitled 'The effectiveness of taxincentives for investment in Central America' in which an analysis was undertaken of the Central American experience in investment attraction through tax incentives.
The approved law establishes a tax credit in recognition of the costs incurred by agents withholding ITBMS when aligning their accounting systems in 2016.
From a statement issued by the National Assembly of Panama:
Legal tax engineering is a mandatory business practice for anyone who wants to be competitive in today's globalized world, and only those who are not entrepreneurs can afford to refuse to acknowledge this fact.
EDITORIAL
With the same firmness that we criticize businesspeople who evade taxes or bribe officials to get a contract, we must defend every business practice which is framed within the law to pursue the best use of available resources to generate wealth through the production of goods and services, which is what businesses do.
In a seventh round of negotiations, an attempt will be made to lay the groundwork for an agreement that seeks to avoid damage to both countries.
If an agreement is not reached, Colombia will classify Panama as a tax haven, with a consequent increase in costs for bank transactions between the two countries, and exposing Columbia to the measures provided under Panama's Law of Retaliation.
Tax law experts will be gathering together in Panama City from 23 to 25 June to discuss issues such as tax planning and treatment of capital gains.
From a statement issued by the Tax Tribunal of Panama:
The Tax Tribunal informs that the IV International Congress of Tax Law: "Fundamental Rights and Taxation" will be held in Panama City from 23 to June 25, 2015.
O4Bi is a system that allows to control and manage what a company needs: the complete process of development of works, accounts receivable, treasury, banks, sales and accounting.
O4Bi is a very robust system that allows to control and...
español
3636