In this scenario of economic crisis, falling tax revenues and the need to finance recovery programs, in Guatemala and Costa Rica it is already proposed to increase current taxes and create new ones.
Guatemalan authorities are already beginning to discuss the fiscal policy they will apply in 2021, when the economy will have to face the effects of the economic crisis generated by the covid-19 outbreak.
On average in Costa Rica more than one in five companies classified as Large Taxpayers do not pay taxes.
EDITORIAL COMMENT:
When the Tax Department does not fully complete its duties, competition between companies is settled not by the quality of products or services, or for the excellence of its managerial staff and their strategic direction, but for the ability of their tax advisors to reduce the amount of taxes paid.
The country annually loses more than $700 million because of tax evasion, a figure that is $100 million more than the amount from Venezuelan cooperation.
The Institute for Strategic Studies and Public Policy (IEEPP in Spanish), an NGO dedicated to studies of national real estate, has released a report on tax evasion, which concludes that this represents lost income of $714.5 million annually to the accounts.
Government and producers have agreed to amend the Fiscal Equity Act to reduce the costs of food production.
Representatives of the Higher Council of the Private Enterprise (COSEP) and the government met to discuss ways to alleviate the increase in food prices, caused especially by the rise in electrical energy costs.
An article in Prensa.com.ni reports that, "according to Bayardo Arce, presidential adviser for economic affairs, a reform ot the Tax Equity Act must be presented to the President of the Republic ‘urgently’ so that it can be sent to the National Assembly, looking to get it approved in an expeditious way. Arce said the partial tax reform seeks especially to curb the rise of two cordobas per liter of milk, but it also aims to alleviate some problems faced by the rice and poultry sectors. "