While the health emergency lasts in El Salvador, online purchases made by individuals from U.S. companies, which do not exceed $200, will not pay taxes.
In response to the outbreak of covid-19 in the country, the Law on Facilitation of Online Purchases was issued, which allows for the promotion and facilitation of the import of goods or merchandise of a non-commercial nature, i.e. for personal use, by Salvadorans through online purchases, according to a statement by the Assembly.
Without clarifying which companies or individuals could apply the measure, the Bukele administration announced a three-month exemption from payment of mortgage loans, services such as water, electricity, Internet, cable and telephone.
Nayib Bukele returned to the Legislative Assembly the reform to the law of Free Zones that granted tax benefits for an additional period of 10 years to companies in the country to increase their investment in 100% with respect to the initially made.
On August 29, 2019, the Assembly informed that the Legislative Plenum endorsed the reform to the Law of Industrial and Commercial Free Zones, establishing that the users of these zones would have a term of 10 additional years (before there were five) to continue enjoying total exemption from taxes, which would be applicable once the period established for the regular enjoyment of this benefit expired.
A bill was presented to create fiscal and economic incentives for companies and individuals using electric vehicles.
The bill "Ley de Transporte Electrico", presented by the organization Mover El Salvador to the Legislative Assembly, seeks that each new electric vehicle or new hybrid electric vehicle be the object of benefits.
In El Salvador, it is proposed that the law discussed in the Assembly, considers the reduction of minimum requirements for investments made in special economic zones, to compensate for the disadvantages of lack of productive activity in the area.
In July 2018, the Executive Branch presented to the Legislative Assembly the draft Law on Special Economic Zones (LZEE), which is being analyzed by the Economy Commission.
Ventus S.A. de C.V., which will invest in the construction of the first wind farm in El Salvador, will enjoy tax exemptions in its investment plans and operation for 20 years.
The Guatemalan and Honduran capital company, Ventus, will invest $73 million over 10 years in the construction of a wind farm with a capacity of 54 MW, and the tax benefits that will be granted result from the signing of a Legal Stability contract for Investments.
A proposal has been made to create a special economic zone in 26 municipalities in the southeast of the country, which would provide tax incentives for activities related to clean energy and the prospecting of natural gas and oil.
The Executive presented to the Legislative Assembly a preliminary draft of the Law on the Special Economic Zone of the Southeast Region of El Salvador, which has the objective of developing 26 municipalities of Usulután, San Miguel and La Unión.
The Legislature has approved the exempt from fines, interest and surcharges to those who are behind in the payment of tax and customs obligations, for a term of three months.
From a statement issued by the Legislature:
In order to allow people who owe this tax to regularize their situation without acruing interest or surcharges, the Legislature has authorized the issuance of the Transitory Law to Facilitate Voluntary Compliance with Tax and Customs Obligations.The effects of this measurewill be effective within a period of three months from its entry into force.
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.
According to the ICEFI, "tax incentive policies seem to be a lost opportunity because of permanent tax expenses and the lack of tangible social benefits."
From a statement issued by the ICEFI:
Within the framework of the international meeting on Tax Justice and Transnational Fraud, held in Costa Rica, a study was presented on October 20 entitled 'The effectiveness of taxincentives for investment in Central America' in which an analysis was undertaken of the Central American experience in investment attraction through tax incentives.
From 2014 to 2015 the size of central governments remained constant at an average 18.5% of gross domestic product (GDP).
From the introduction of the report: "Macrofiscal Profiles: 6th Edition" by the Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies (Icefi):
2015 proved to be a period of low tax advance for the Central American region. On average, the size of central governments remained constant compared to 2014, at 18.5% of gross domestic product (GDP). However, not all nations maintained this trend in the same way. While the governments of Nicaragua, Costa Rica and El Salvador, some of the largest fiscally in the region, continued to increase their participation in the economy, reporting increases of 1.5, 0.7 and 0.7% of GDP, respectively, the Government of Guatemala - one of the smallest in the world became even smaller, being reduced by 1.2% of GDP. For its part, the Government of Honduras reported a small decrease of 0.2% of GDP, fully converged with its policy of fiscal austerity, while that of Panama had a transient contraction of 1.4%, reflecting a reorganization established by the new administration and that, according to the plans for 2016, will be reversed in full.
Work is being done on a draft amendment to the Law on Tax Incentives for Renewable Energy Development to include new sources of renewable energy and expand the coverage of incentives for large projects.
From a statement issued by the Legislature:
Agreement to amend Fiscal Incentives Act for the Development of Renewable Energy in Electricity Generation
Tourism investments above $25000 and categorized as of national interest will be able to enjoy tax incentives for another five years.
"... They shall be entitled to the following incentives: exemption from taxes on real estate transfer, exemption from customs duties on the import of their goods, exemption from payment of income tax for a period of ten years and partial exclusion of municipal duties imposed for the period of 5 years from the start of operations relating to tourism activities for up to 50% of its value. "
If free zones -with their tax breaks and other privileges- are good for the economy, why isn't the entire country made into a free zone?
EDITORIAL
Why not provide companies founded with Central America capital the same benefits and privileges enjoyed by foreign firms operating under free zone regimes? The job creation and contribution to the economy that can be made by companies in free zones because they enjoy these privileges should be able to come from business founded with Central American capital as well, which in contrast to foreign firms, have to deal with excessive regulations and bureaucracy in the States of Central America.
The problem with income tax exemptions is that they favor high-return projects that would probably have been made anyway.
From an IDB document entitled "The effectiveness of tax incentives: The case of export processing zones in Costa Rica, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic".
Introduction and Summary
Policies encouraging investment make use of a variety of instruments. On the one hand, there are reductions in the tax burden on companies, such as development loans, import protection and export subsidies and, on the other hand, government measures aimed at correcting information externalities or coordination problems that may prevent a company from accessing new markets or developing new technologies by itself.
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