In Costa Rica, the bill to regulate the provision of tourist rental services in housing through digital platforms, which includes a 13% tax and would require suppliers to register, which would make this accommodation option more expensive.
The deputies approved in their first debate, file No. 20,865 Framework Law for the regulation of non-traditional hosting and its intermediation through digital platforms, reported the Assembly on August 28.
On September 2, Costa Rica began the registration of individuals and agricultural producers who wish to opt for the benefits contemplated in the new tax regulations.
The term began on Monday, September 2 and ends on January 31, 2020, and for registration interested parties must submit their physical or legal identity card, and literal certification of the property, informed the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG).
A proposal is made to amend the law in order to limit the granting of criminal dispensation to one time only when the amount of the tax obligation defrauded is paid before the first instance sentence or during the investigation phase.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) will soon present a project to modify article No. 288-J of Law No. 70 dated January 2019, a proposal that is supported by the business sector.
The authorities that will assume the government in 2020 in Guatemala could evaluate options to tax temporarily some sectors, however, there would be a risk that these taxes become permanent.
The Agreement with the Republic of Italy for the exchange of information on tax matters entered into force on June 17th.
The signing of this bilateral agreement took place in May 2016 and establishes the provisions through which the exchange of tax information between both jurisdictions will be regulated, while seeking to strengthen the international fight against tax evasion.
Businessmen regret the fact that in Costa Rica is constant the creation of new taxes, fees and canons as an easy and quick solution to problems affecting the country, such as the bill that seeks to tax the use of plastic.
Project No. 21159 "Law to solve the contamination of plastic waste", which was presented to the National Assembly by the deputy of the ruling party Paola Vega, contemplates the collection of a tax for the importation or nationalization of plastic inputs, for selling or consuming articles of this material.
Experts and authorities believe that the ruling by the Guatemalan Constitutional Court revoking the suspension preventing access to taxpayers' bank information for fiscal purposes could be reversed with another legal action.
In recent days, the issue has become more relevant in the country, because after a year of being suspended access to banking information for tax purposes, on August 6 the Constitutional Court finally ruled, authorizing the Superintendence of Tax Administration (SAT) to review the accounts of taxpayers.
One year after the suspension of taxpayers' access to bank information for tax purposes, the Guatemalan Constitutional Court ruled definitively and revoked the suspension.
With the entry into force of 122-2019 Agreement, the application of the specific tax, the customs information corresponding to cement or clinker imports and the appointment of personnel to supervise storage places is regulated.
Since the 122-2019 Governmental Agreement was published in the Diario de Centro América on July 25, 2019, the regulations have become effective in the country.
Although Costa Rica and Nicaragua approved fiscal reforms this year, it is predicted that the expected results in terms of tax collection will not be achieved.
The document "Centroamérica: análisis sintético, por país, del desempeño de la recaudación tributaria en 2019", prepared by the Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Fiscales (Icefi), explains that, in the case of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, the expected results in terms of improved collection are still in doubt.
In Nicaragua, companies involved in the production of bread are facing several difficulties because of the increase in their operating costs, which derive from the rise in taxes and electricity tariffs.
The beginning of the year has been difficult for most of the productive sectors of the country and bakers are not exempt from this reality. On February 27, 2019, the amendment to the Tax Agreement Law was approved, which consisted of raising from 1% to 2% the income tax for medium sized companies with higher incomes. Another of the measures contemplated by the reform was to raise the income tax of large taxpayers from 1% to 3%.
In Nicaragua, there is uncertainty because the government is reviewing the tax reform without the participation of businessmen, and because adjustments to the minimum wage could be made in September.
Weeks ago, it was reported that when the government's review of the tax reform in force in the country since February is completed, businessmen consider that no tax cuts will be made, despite the fact that production costs in the country have risen considerably.
In the government's review of Nicaragua's tax reform that has been in place since February, businessmen consider that no tax cuts will be made, even though production costs in the country have risen considerably.
After the approval on February 27, 2019 of the amendment to the Tax Concertation Law, which consists of raising from 1% to 2% the income tax for medium sized companies with higher income, and for large taxpayers from 1% to 3%, the productive sector has reported increases in its production costs.
Businessmen in the industrial sector in Nicaragua say that since the tax reform was implemented in the first quarter of the year, employment has fallen between 30% and 35%.
On February 27, 2019 was approved the amendment to the Law of Tax Concertation, which consists of raising from 1% to 2% income tax for medium enterprises with higher income. Another of the measures contemplated by the reform is to raise the income tax of large taxpayers from 1% to 3%.
The Legislative Assembly approved a moratorium of three non-extendable months, in sanctions, arrears, interests, fines or any other sanctioning disposition, related to the collection of the value added tax, which became effective last July 1.
Taxpayers qualified by the Tax Administration as large national taxpayers and large territorial companies are excluded from this moratorium, explains a statement from the Legislative Assembly.