Companies that owe taxes to the Costa Rica Tourism Institute will be granted a moratorium during April, May, June and July.
Regarding the taxes to which the moratorium will apply, the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) reported they are 5% for the sale of each air ticket originating in Costa Rica for international travel, in addition to the 5% that applies to the purchase of tickets whose destination is our country.
A three-month moratorium on the payment of value added taxes, business income and customs duties is the proposal of the Executive in view of the emergency caused by the spread of covid-19 in the country.
The initiative "COVID-19 Tax Relief Project", which was presented to the Legislative Assembly on March 16, proposes that taxpayers can postpone the payment of taxes for at least three months.
In Costa Rica, the Legislative Assembly approved in first debate a bill to avoid fines for errors in the declaration of the shareholders' registry for two months.
In its first debate, the file 21,758 Law of Moratorium for the Application of Sanctions corresponding to the ordinary declaration of the 2019 period, related to the transparency and final beneficiaries’ registry, provided for in the Law to Improve the Fight against Tax Fraud, was approved. The initiative gives an extension for shareholders of corporations to submit their lists, before applying sanctions, reported the Legislative Assembly.
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.
In Costa Rica, low economic activity and rising unemployment explain the 25% increase reported between February 2018 and the same month of 2019 in the value of assets acquired by banks to recover loans.
Figures from the General Superintendence of Financial Entities (Sugef) specify that between February 2018 and the same month of this year, the amount of goods and securities acquired by financial entities because people and companies did not pay their loans increased from $425 million to $533 million.
The 90-day closed season on pineapple crops in the northern part of the country ends on October 25, while farmers report that the ban was not respected and that the stable fly plague persists.
An article on Nacion.com reports that in June and July of this year the SENASA issued bans "... through means of decrees on the demolition of pineapple plants, in both cases for 90 days. This prohibition prevented the re-planting or planting of farms in affected areas. The first prohibition was published in La Gaceta on June 1 and affected the Cutris District in the Canton of San Carlos de Alajuela and the town of San Rafael de Río Cuarto de Alajuela and its validity has already expired.The second decree came out in another issue of La Gaceta on July 24 of this year and will run until October 24, according to the Senasa.This affected the district of Pital del Cantón de San Carlos de Alajuela, which includes, among others, the towns of Los Angeles, Boca Sahino, Boca Tapada, Boca Tres Amigos, Cabra, Canacas, Caño Chu, Cerro Blanco (San Marcos), Cuatro Esquinas,Chaparrón, Chirivico (Coopeisabel), Encanto, Fama (Carmen), Flor, I Greiga, Josefina, Legua, Ojoche, Ojochito, Palmar, Piedra Alegre, Puerto Escondido, Quebrada Grande, Sahino, San Luis, Santa Elena, Tigre, Trinchera, Vegas, Veracruz, Lapuel (partial), Vuelta Tablón and Yucatan."
A bill proposes banning for 25 years the development of hydroelectric projects and concessions for extraction of mineral materials in the course of the Naranjo River in Puntarenas.
Members who proposed the bill argue that it is necessary to establish this prohibition due to the damage and contamination observed in the Manuel Antonio National Park due to the "... indiscriminate exploitation of the Naranjo River."
The Municipality of Los Chiles, in Alajuela, has suspended for five years the granting of permits for the expansion of pineapple crops.
The City Council agreed to stop issuing permits for the cultivation of pineapple in the canton with the aim of carrying out hydrogeological studies to assess the degree of soil erosion and"...
In Guatemala academics are trying to halt the mining industry while new rules for the sector are studied, instead of making concrete proposals to correct what needs to be corrected.
EDITORIAL
An academic consortium is proposing that the State of Guatemala turn its back on an industry that generates employment and income and suspend the granting of mining concessions in the country.
The measure which has paralyzed multiple investments remains in force because of administrative delays in the adoption of the rules that will govern the transformation of solid waste into electricity.
It has been noted that the document which contains the rules for this activity was ready three months ago, though Environment Minister Edgar Gutierrez, reported that "... we expected it soon to be stamped and signed."
The Municipality of Upala has approved a five-year moratorium on the granting of permits for construction of hydroelectric dams on territory in the canton in the province of Alajuela.
Covered by declaration of the moratorium, the municipality will be carrying out studies to determine the environmental and social impact of the dams operating in the canton, which are Canalete II, Los Negros I and Cote.
The Agricultural Affairs Committee in the Legislative Assembly has rejected a bill which sought to impose a moratorium on the cultivation of genetically modified foods.
Lack of certainty and scientific consensus on the risk of the release and cultivation of GMOs were key to the decision.
Although some sectors anticipated approval of the initiative by the Commission on GM crops, most of the deputies in the Agricultural Affairs Committee rejected it, burying the law that would have banned GM cultivation in the country for four years.
The Ministry of Health has announced that the new regulations governing the generation of energy from biomass by municipalities will be ready in March.
Ameliarueda.com reports that "... Since last year an executive decree has been in effect which establishes a moratorium on any attempt to generate electricity from waste materials, however, the new rules allows for a repeal, since one of the conditions was that a regulation be applied to govern such processes."
While the Congress of Costa Rica is preparing to vote on a four year moratorium on the cultivation of GM crops, the scientific evidence that they pose no risk to animal or human health is increasing.
EDITORIAL
The article published in Elfinancierocr.com by Keilor Rojas reports on a study carried out by geneticists at the University of California-Davis that based on "...
Up until December 31, 2015 a moratorium will be in effect on the payment of the 13% sales tax on recreational tourism activities in Costa Rica.
The tourism sector will accept the new tax on their terms: desiring an alternative draft law as soon as possible, which exempts legislative procedures and exonerates the charges made before the moratorium.