The government has announced that it will stop the outsourcing of tax collections and reestablish it as a function of the Directorate General of Revenue.
The Minister of Economy and Finance, Dulcidio De La Guardia, also announced the elimination of the National Tax Authority, created in the previous administration, and the management and collection of taxes will go back into the hands of the General Revenue Department.
A bill proposed to the National Assembly aims to hire more companies to manage cases of tax arrears.
So far only one company is responsible for this service, engaged directly and exclusively to manage collections from legal and natural persons who are behind with tax payments. If the bill presented by the Ministry of Economy and Finance is successful, the government will open up the process for hiring companies.
Companies with over $5 million a year now need only send to the Municipality of Panama a list of their commercial suppliers.
The measure which required companies to verify that their suppliers were complying with the payment of taxes and which generated a lot of opposition in the private sector in Panama City will be suspended by Mayor Jose Isabel Blandon.
In Panama Law 31 of 2009 empowers the tax authorities to pay a reward of 25% of any amount that the State manages to raise as a result of a complaint about tax evasion.
In his opinion article in Prensa.com, Osvaldo Lau said that the business of organizing offices that ".... are dedicated to tax allegations ... have thrived in other jurisdictions, so it would not be " ...
A new system to make tax payments to the Treasury will come into operation on June.
E-Tax 2.0 is the name which the national authority of public revenue (ANIP) has given to the new on line system which will connect to 10 banks, crossing with tax information and will allow requests to be made and follow up given on tax procedures.
"A term of three months will be given so that taxpayers can enter the system, update their information and the information of those who they wish to delegate this task to... All statements will be presented online, eliminating the need to download software", said Luis Cucalón, administrator of ANIP to EL CAPITAL.
The three presidential candidates at the top of the polls say they will not propose tax reforms during their tenure.
Capital.com.pa reports that "The issue was discussed at the last forum organized by the Panamanian Association of Business Executives (APEDA), which evaluated the economic and fiscal impact of electoral promises."
Jose Domingo Arias (Democratic Change), Juan Carlos Navarro (Democratic Revolutionary Party), and Juan Carlos Varela (Panamanian Party) are the three candidates for the Presidency of Panama that have the highest chance of winning, according to polls. The three "... assure that they will not impose new taxes."
In the region the level of sales tax evasion is around 33% on average.
From a statement from the Central Institute for Fiscal Studies (Icefi):
The Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies presents the seventh edition of its analysis of the situation in Costa Rica.
Icefi: It is urgent that the two contending political parties specify a plan that will allow them to balance fiscal accounts and fulfill their campaign promises.
The Colon City Council has repealed a 1953 rule which exempted companies that provide services in the CFZ from paying taxes.
Colon City Council passed a bill that repeals another approved in 1953 that exempts from tax services performed by companies in the Colon Free Zone (CFZ). Companies that offer services such as banks, law firms, messaging, restaurants, cleaning, consultancy and others, will be obliged to pay taxes.
The Association of Banks of Panama has filed a lawsuit alleging that the concept of the tax retention agent is unconstitutional.
The Association of Banks of Panama (ABP) believes that the agreement which empowers the Panamanian municipality to select companies that bill more than $5 million as tax retention agents is unconstitutional. The agreement regulated in 2013 turns firms in auditors and collectors of tax for the municipal coffers.
Additional provisions by banks for loans to companies in the CFZ are a "medicine worse than the disease."
The Association of Users of the Colon Free Zone (AU) fears that the bank contingency measures, ordered last week by the Superintendency of Banks of Panama (SBP), will limit bank lending to companies in the CFZ.
"Entrepreneurs foresaw an adverse scenario for the Colon Free Zone (CFZ) as, in addition to warnings from the banking regulator, there is the possibility of tax collection approved by the City Council of Colon, as well as pressure from insurers after multiple disasters".
Tax revenues in relation to GDP increased in the Central American countries with the exceptions of Guatemala, where it fell, and Costa Rica, where it did not change.
A report entitled "Tax Statistics" prepared by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), analyzes the behavior of tax collection in Latin America.
Approval has been given to repeal two provisions of the law requiring any natural or legal person in receipt of any taxable income outside the country to pay taxes.
From a press release from the Presidency of Panama:
The Cabinet Council has approved a resolution which repeals sections 2 and 3 of Law 120 of December 30th 2013, which stated that any natural or legal person in receipt of any taxable income outside of Panamanian territory must pay taxes.
Central American companies on average spend 217 hours and perform 34 different procedures in order to comply with the payment of taxes.
Even though the process for paying taxes are slower than in other regions, the overall tax rate paid by corporations in Central America is still lower than in other countries.
This is indicated in an annual study by PriceWaterHouseCoopers and the World Bank, which analyzes tax systems in 189 countries and compares them according to three indicators: the time it takes to make the payments, the number of procedures that must be carried out and the overall tax rate, which takes into account labour taxes, those on profits and others.
Congress has approved giving amnesty to tax debtors and extended to $80 thousand the ceiling for housing loans with preferential interest rates of 4%.
A press release from the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Panama reads:
The National Assembly approved on the third reading, Bill numbers 627 and 628, the first of which grants taxpayers the opportunity to regularize their tax obligations with the National Revenue Authority (ANIP), while the second, amends Article 5 of Law No. 3 of 1985, which establishes a preferential interest rate on certain mortgage loans.
A bill intends to give taxpayers the opportunity to get in order tax payments owed due to errors or inaccuracies up to the fiscal year 2011.
A press release from the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Panama reads:
The Government will provide an opportunity for taxpayers to manage their tax obligations with the National Revenue Authority (ANIP), which occurred due to inaccuracies or errors, exempting them from liability for such acts up to the fiscal year 2011, presented the head of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), Frank De Lima, by a bill before the full National Assembly.