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.
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.
In Costa Rica, the Ministry of Finance has announced that it will intensify controls on tax returns submitted by professionals in activities such as medicine, law and accounting, among others.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance:
As part of the control actions carried out by the General Department of Taxation (DGT), this month a campaign was launched to monitor the professional sector which includes sending out more than 25 thousand messages.
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.
The Government is once again bringing to the table the concept of global income, to force tax residents in the country to declare and pay taxes on profits earned abroad.
The Ministry of Finance has announced that"... they are working on a substitute text to a reform of income tax, which would mean a profound change to the initiative which is in Congress."This proposal is for tax any income generated from commercial activities outside of Costa Rica, by those tax residents who stay at least 183 days a year in the country.
The amount paid to the Tax Authority corresponds to unpaid taxes, plus penalties and interest.
An article on Lahora.gt reports that the Superintendent of the SAT, Juan Francisco Solorzano, said that "... It is the largest payment made by any entity, in relation to adjustments that had been made or that had been ordered as a result of a judicial process from which it was ruled that there was tax fraud or tax evasion. "
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.
"Of the total potential tax collection from VAT, only 50% is charged, with 19% being lost from exemptions and tax schemes, many without justification, while the remaining 30% is lost through evasion charges."
From a statement issued by the ICEFI:
During a forum organized by the Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies (Icefi) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, a document was presented by the Icefi diagnosing the current situation of the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT) and an alternative roadmap was proposed for the rescue and reconstruction of the SAT.
In Costa Rica a bill intends to discourage the use of "tax havens", controlling the legitimacy of the costs incurred in those territories.
At present the bill under discussion in the Committee on Financial Affairs, is expected to publicize a final report in mid-March. The initiative "... also excludes deductions for expenses to be made or paid by resident individuals or entities in tax havens."
An announcement has been made that 34 large companies suspected of tax evasion will be audited by foreign experts.
From an article on the web site of the Department of Revenue (DEI by its initials in Spanish):
International auditors to monitor 34 large companies that are evading the DEI
Tegucigalpa - The head of the Department of Revenue, (DEI), Miriam Guzman, confirmed on Friday that at the end of this month, international auditors will be arriving in the country to monitor 34 large companies where there is certainty that tax is being evaded.
The Ministry of Finance is preparing a bill that would require filing an income tax statement before applying for a loan from a bank.
The purpose of this initiative against tax evasion is for the Ministry of Finance to "... have the same status as the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS), ie that people must be up to date with payments to the institution in order to make arrangements in the public sector. "
An announcement has been made that greater control will be exerted in verifying payments of income taxes by large taxpayers.
Due to the decline in revenue from income tax and irregularities in the internal collection agency, the Directorate of Revenue has announced it will increase controls on businesses.
In an article on Latribuna.hn Miriam Guzman, head of the institution, "emphasized that the auditing by the DEI, will not decrease, while at the same time business owners are being invited to "avoid having to be objects in criminal prosecutions led by the relevant authorities."