After inconsistencies were detected between purchases reported by taxpayers and sales that the company declared to the tax authority, an investigation was initiated in Guatemala into the "La Barata" supermarket chain.
During the morning of December 7, representatives of the Public Ministry (MP) and the Superintendence of Tax Administration (SAT), held a press conference in which they explained some details about a new case of alleged tax fraud by the chain of stores "La Barata."
For the first time, the country's Courts of Justice sentenced six people to 10 years in prison for tax fraud against the Public Treasury, a sentence that corresponds to the case of a clothing importing company that defrauded over $575,000.
Carlos Vargas, general director of Taxation, indicated that during 16 years the taxpayer who was condemned used all the procedural guarantees until the last instance.
In order to tax the total amount of profits of individuals or corporations based in Costa Rica, regardless of where their profits are generated, a bill was submitted to the Assembly that seeks to amend the Income Tax Law.
Currently in Costa Rica a territorial income system is applied, which consists of taxing profits produced exclusively at the local level. If the Income Tax Law is modified, the situation could change.
Extension of deadlines for the payment of taxes and flexibility in the submission of income tax returns by natural and legal persons are some of the measures that the authorities will implement in the context of the Covid-19 crisis.
With no details on the new deadlines that will be required of taxpayers, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) reported that the measures are contained in Executive Decree 252 of March 24.
The Superintendence of Tax Administration declared the days between March 24 and April 14 as non-working days for the purposes of calculating the periods established in the tax legislation.
On March 24, Resolution of the Superintendence of Tax Administration Number SAT-DSI-280-2020 was published in the Official Journal, in which the days of March 24, 25, 26, 27, 30 and 31, 2020, and April 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 13 and 14, 2020, inclusive, were declared non-working days for purposes of deferring the computation of the terms established in the tax legislation and the internal administrative procedures of this entity.
The National Assembly of Panama approved in second debate the draft law that extends the period of tax amnesty until June 30, 2020.
The initiative proposes that up to 85% of the total interest, surcharges and fines be recognized if payment is made after February 29, 2020 until June 30 of the same year, so that taxpayers may proceed to make their corresponding payments or credits.
In view of the emergency arising from the spread of covid-19, a bill was submitted to the Assembly proposing a 90-calendar-day suspension of the payment of municipal and national taxes.
The initiative also establishes the suspension for 90 days of the payment of electricity and drinking water, as well as mortgage and personal loans, among others, reported the National Assembly.
The law that criminalizes tax evasion was approved by the National Assembly when the amount defrauded in a fiscal period of one year is equal to or greater than $300.000.
With a majority vote, Project 591, which criminalizes tax evasion in the Criminal Code and is considered a crime resulting from money laundering, was approved in the third debate, informed the Legislative Assembly.
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.
A declaration of unconstitutionality has been given to the section of the tax code that allowed the Treasury to demand payment of penalties and interest allegedly owed on taxes before the right to a defense can be exercised.
The slowness and inefficiency with which the Taxation department processes tax disputes, sometimes involving decades before there is a resolution, led to the outlandish idea on the part of lawmakers of putting the cart before the horse.In order to solve the problem of stubborn evasions where people take advantage of the inefficiency of the Taxation department, a decision was made to take away from companies the right to contest the results of tax audits, forcing the taxpayer to pay the amounts ordered by these audits, within in a deadline of one month, in order to be able to initiate formal questioning of those results.Now, the Supreme Court of Costa Rica has taken away that power from the Taxation department, declaring it unconstitutional.
Due to the implementation of a new tax system, the government has postponed until August 31 the deadline for filing tax declarations and reports which were due on July 31.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Economy and Finance:
The Directorate General of Revenue (DGI) at the Ministry of Economy and Finance wishes to reiterate to all taxpayers that because of the implementation of the new tax information system e-Tax 2.0, official financial statements and reports that were due for submission on July 31 may be submitted until August 31, 2016.
Optimization of the DGI's management practices has been cited as the cause of the 14.3% increase in tax revenue collection in the first half of the year.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance:
The collection of tax revenue for the first half of the year increased by 14.3% compared to the same period in 2015, according to the latest preliminary report released today by the Directorate General of Revenue (DGI) at the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).
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.
A grace period has been granted up until October 5, 2015, for filing in the tax return without penalties charged for delays.
From a statement issued by the Executive Directorate of Revenue (DEI):
Tegucigalpa, published on August 5 - Tax Amnesty for fines caused by non-submission of tax declaration.
Decree No. 66-2015, which extends the amnesty provided for in 140-2014, was recently approved, by which 60 calendar days are granted from the day following the publication in La Gaceta, in order for tax declarations to be settled without incurring penalties from the Executive Management and Revenue (DEI).
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.