In Nicaragua, the government plans to increase employer, labor, and state Social Security contributions, and to approve a tax reform that would increase taxes for medium and large companies.
Although the country has been in a serious economic and political crisis since April 2018, when the government tried to implement reforms to the Nicaraguan Institute of Social Security (INSS), the Ortega administration is once again trying to make changes to the institution, this time through an administrative resolution.
The tax reform law that would be approved in second debate in the coming weeks, involves the exoneration of arrears and penalties for taxpayers who pay their debts in the first three months after the publication of the law.
The proposed measure consists of exonerating 100% of the interest on arrears and up to 80% of the penalty to taxpayers who pay in the first month after the Law is published in the official newspaper La Gaceta.
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.
From the statement of the National Assembly:
In the third debate, the National Assembly approved the optimization of the Special Free Port System for the province of Colón (SEPLC) through the exclusion of tax payments for the import of goods, both for domestic and non-domestic.
The annual amount of the tax to be paid by legal entities starting from September 1 varies between 15% and 50% of the base salary, depending on the type of company.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance:
On Friday, September 1, the collection of the new Tax on Legal Entities begins, and the collection, administration, control and collection will be from the Ministry of Finance, as of this year, according to Law 9428 that creates this Tax.
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.
EDITORIAL
In Costa Rica, better administrative management has made possible better income tax collection figures than those foreseen with simple tax increases.
Under study in the Legislature are 26 bills involving new taxes, increases of some existing ones and redistribution of others.
An analysis piece by Nacion.com notes that the Legislative Assembly is currently considering 26 bills introduced during the current administration which in some way involve the issue of taxes."...Of the total projects, 50% are attempts to raise them or create a new type of tax or fees. "
The Directorate General of Taxation has hired an external service that cross matches taxpayer data in public databases to identify suspicious patterns that might suggest misconduct.
The project called Predictive Model started to be implemented by the Ministry of Finance of Costa Rica this year, and aims to analyze the behavior of firms and individuals in order to identify suspicious or unusual patterns in the process of declaration of income and tax payments.
Two years behind schedule, an announcement has been made that in January 2017 the electronic billing system will be implemented by Empresa de Servicios Públicos de Heredia.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance in Costa Rica:
Empresa de Servicios Públicos de Heredia (ESPH), was selected by the Ministry of Finance for the development, implementation and operation of an electronic invoicing system, which will start in January 2017.ESPH together with another company which is a specialist in the subject, will be responsible for developing the software and putting into use the technology platform (networks, servers, connectivity, among other things, as well as the reception, validation and storage of electronic receipts or invoices.
The analysis made by Fusades concludes that the bill aiming to collect tax debts allows assets to be seized before it has been proven that there is a real debt.
From a report by the Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FUSADES):
On April 6, 2016, the Minister of Finance submitted to the Legislature, with instructions from the President of the Republic and making use of the bill bestowed by the Constitution, a draft "Law for the collection of tax debts and fines owed to the State", consisting of 109 articles, divided into five titles.The project is still under study by the Commission of Treasury and Budget of the Legislative Assembly.
Since the institutional crisis the tax supervision body has been operating without a head since April, while the fiscal deficit is still growing and legal bills sleep in the Assembly.
In an opinion piece published on Prensalibre.com, Oscar Chile Monroy, refers to the need for the new president Alejandro Maldonado to urgently decide on who are the new authorities for the Tax Administration in order to redirect the state of public finances, after the institutional crisis whose effects are still being felt in the tax collection agency.
In 4 out of 10 businesses inspected in the provinces of Puntarenas, Guanacaste, Heredia and Alajuela, the Ministry of Finance detected some degree of tax noncompliance.
According to authorities, in March of this year 51% of businesses in Guanacaste and 49% in Puntarenas had fiscal irregularities. During June in Guanacaste the proportion of errors rose to 53% and fell to 44% in Puntarenas.
Memorandum on submissions of tax reports for sales inventories up to June 30 to be handed in by taxpayers to the SAT before July 31, 2015.
Tax Memorandum of Tezó and Associates:
Article 42 of Decree No. 10-2012, and Article 32 of its Regulations regulate taxpayers in the Regime for Nonprofit Activities, must report to the SAT inventories for stocks available for sale as at 30 June December 31 each year.
The 100 largest taxpayers registered with the Ministry of Finance paid tax equivalent to 2% of their annual gross income.
Representatives from the department stated that they will start investigating some companies this year who have reported losses or very low taxation, "... and for that reason, asked for a refund of income tax (ISR). If the investigations show any irregularity, we will monitor this type of business, said Minister Carlos Caceres to Elmundo.com.sv. "