If the Treasury's proposal succeeds, interest on bank deposits would incur 8% to 15%, while for revenues generated by mutual funds, the tax would rise from 5% to 15%.
This unification is due to the fact that currently there are different taxes for similar types of income, therefore the tax is not neutral, according to the CEO of Taxation. In the case of surplus cooperatives and solidarity associations, the project proposes "...
The Institute of Chartered Accountants has stated that projects to reform VAT and income tax will affect the final consumer by making goods and services more expensive.
From a statement issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants:
The President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ovares Francisco, believes that the new bills to reform the Value Added Tax (VAT) and income tax (ISR), which the Treasury is submitting to public consultation will have a direct impact on consumers.
The reform under public consultation includes tax on remittances sent abroad, on the payment or crediting of interest, commissions and other financial expenses by natural or legal persons domiciled in Costa Rica.
From the order by the Ministry of Finance published in La Gaceta:
Amendments to the Regulations on the Law on Income Tax
Despite several announcements of new taxes, the government will focus on controlling tax evasion and leave the decision to implement a tax reform to future administrations.
According to authorities at the Ministry of Finance, at the moment there is no consensus for fiscal reform. The priority now will be to pursue and strengthen tax administration in order to meet budget expenditures this year.
The tax system in Costa Rica is chaotic, complex, unfair, disproportionate, inequitable, and ineffective, which affects development and competitiveness, encouraging tax evasion and smuggling.
In an analysis piece in Elfinancierocr.com items, Danilo Villalta notes the need for comprehensive reform of the Costa Rican tax system, starting with a "strategic planning process" to approve a plan "agreed with the various political forces, and subsequently according to that plan, develop bills with the participation of specialists in order to have legislation that is clear, transparent, simple and easy to apply by the administrator and the taxpayer. "
Given the failure of the monthly payment system, income tax payments will be made in three installments a year and will be calculated using estimates.
According to an article in Prensa.com "With this move the government recognizes the failure of an unwieldy mechanism and that has not generated the expected revenues. Tax consultant Osvaldo Lau said that ‘the aim was to improve cash flow, but the exercise failed, because the absolute value of tax revenues did not meet expectations. '"
A draft submitted by the Executive aims to reform six laws in order to increase tax revenues.
A press release by the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala reads:
The Board of the Congress, headed by Deputy Gudy Rivera, received on 3rd February a visit from the President of the Republic, Otto Perez Molina, who along with Finance Minister, Pavel Centeno and the Secretary General of the Presidency Gustavo Martinez, officially handed over a tax reform which seeks to reform six laws for the primary purpose of increasing tax collection and controling the pace of debt maintained by the State, which is growing.