A bill will be presented to the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala to require public accountants, auditors, lawyers and notaries to report their transactions.
The bill seeking to broaden the scope of regulated persons’ subject to money laundering control, which will be presented by the Superintendence of Banks (SIB), is aimed primarily at professionals as individuals, but will also include real estate companies, vehicle agencies and casinos.
Arguing that the objective is to ensure that used cars into Costa Rica are in optimal condition, the new Customs authorities are tightening controls on imported units.
Importers of used vehicles in Costa Rica report that since the new General Director of Customs took office in January this year, is promoting a new guideline that generates uncertainty in the sector.
A court ruling has overturned the SAT resolutions authorizing Empresa Portuaria Quetzal y Terminal de Contenedores Quetzal to operate as temporary customs warehouses.
Although the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT) has announced that it will be appealing the ruling given by the Second Administrative Appeals Chamber, the reality is that since June 28, the activities of the customs warehouses in Empresa Portuaria Quetzal (EPQ) have been suspended as well as those at the Terminal de Contenedores Quetzal (TCQ)."...The resolution orders that the SAT no longer has the customs service under its administration, which contravenes the Central American Customs Code CAUCA, therefore the Superintendency will file an appeal against the decision made by the Court."
In 2016, the ratio between total expenditure of central governments of the countries of the region and GDP remained almost unchanged from the previous year, going from 18.3% to 18.6%.
From the report "Macroeconomic Profiles: 8th edition", from the Central American Institute of Fiscal Studies (Icefi):
The Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies (Icefi) presented its most recent edition of the Macro-Fiscal Profiles of Central America, which contains an analysis of the fiscal situation of Central America and each of the countries of the region, at the end of fiscal year 2016, as well as the main lines contained in the budgets approved for 2017.The publication includes in this opportunity a revision to the main indicators related to the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Objectives 2030 -ODS 2030- and raises the urgent need to make progress in a new fiscal agenda that allows the effective attention of these commitments in the short term.
The Tax Authority is considering using this new tool in its audit plan for 2017.
From a statement issued by Tezó & Associates:
THE LIFTING OF BANK SECRECY IS A FISCAL TOOL THAT THE SAT WILL MAKE USE OF IN 2017
As mentioned in our Tax Memo Number 11-16, the lifting of "Bank Secrecy" will start from February 27, 2017, consisting of the SAT being able to require from the following entities: Banks, Finance Companies, Credit and Savings Cooperatives, and Microfinance and Nonprofit Institutions: information on bank transactions, transfers, investments, available assets or other transactions and services performed by any individual or legal person, entity or assets.The SAT will request such information in cases where there is reasonable doubt about activities or operations that warrant an investigation process.The aim of lifting Bank Secrecy is for the SAT to make use of a fiscal took to check whether all of an individual or legal entity's income, be they registered or not as a taxpayer, has paid the taxes on it.
Banks must report to the Institute on Drugs any financial transactions that do not correspond to a tax return.
A decree by the Solis administration amends the regulations of Act 8204 against drug trafficking, related activities, money laundering, financing of terrorism and organized crime.
Through an amendment to article 34 of Executive Decree No.
A year after laws were approved to prevent money laundering in Panama there are still companies that have not been registered and will not be able to report suspicious transactions.
The Superintendency has reiterated that the decision taken to seize administrative and operational control of Balboa Bank & Trust is an isolated case, separate from the rest of the banking system.
From a statement issued by the Superintendency of Competition:
The Superintendency of Banks in Panama recommends to the community to only pay attention to official communications issued by the institution and to ignore unfounded and malicious rumors that are circulating or being published on social networks and other unauthorized media. We reiterate that such unfounded stories, could incur the commission of offenses, as provided in Section 260 of the Penal Code.
The Superintendency of Tax Administration has authorized the publication of audit procedures in cases of VAT refunds to exporters.
In response to complaints from several exporters, the Ministry of Finance has removed the information restriction on enforcement procedures as approved in the Access to Information Act. This follows complaints from the private sector over the fact that the rules defining the auditing procedures carried out by the SAT are not precisely known.
Preparations are being made for a billing system which will allow companies to file reports digitally and in real time, replacing the tax printers implemented by the Martinelli administration.
The DGI has announced to the private sector that the new system is intended to streamline sales reports to the Treasury by large enterprises, in addition to ending the "... complications caused by use of fiscal printers".
The Executive Directorate of Revenue has announced that as part of the changes in the audit and tax collection it will oversee the transfer prices of companies headquartered abroad.
In addition to the implementation of electronic billing and other changes that aim to improve the supervision of tax collections, the Executive Directorate of Revenue (DEI) has announced that foreign companies or Honduran companies whose headquarters are outside of the country must report in detail their transfer prices.
A report from the Central Institute for Fiscal Studies said that mining activities in Guatemala are "far from presenting satisfactory levels of transparency."
From a report issued by the Central Institute for Fiscal Studies:
Fiscal transparency is a key element to ensure that tax revenues from the extractive industries translate into improvements in the quality of life of the population.
The government will ask the FATF to postpone the review of the legal framework being implemented against money laundering in the country until 2017.
The review by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is initially scheduled for 2016, but the government has announced that it will be requesting an extension to complete and verify the effectiveness of the legal restructuring, which involves the adoption of new laws and amendments to other ones.
The National Assembly has passed a bill amending the Criminal Code in order to adapt it to international legal standards for the prevention of crimes of money laundering.
From a statement issued by the National Assembly of Panama:
The full Legislature approved on its third reading Bill No. 102, which amends and adds articles to the Penal Code.
The document seeks to adapt the Panamanian criminal substantive law to the global context and thereby ensure the country's commitment to assuming the highest possible international standards that enable the subsumption of a larger catalog of punishable offenses in the criminal offenses created, in order to elevate the Republic of Panama to the highest position in the prevention and suppression of crimes of money laundering and terrorist financing.
O4Bi is a system that allows to control and manage what a company needs: the complete process of development of works, accounts receivable, treasury, banks, sales and accounting.
O4Bi is a very robust system that allows to control and...