QCOSTARICA – Legislators from different political parties reached an agreement on Monday, October 26, to reduce the property tax portion of the 2021 Marchamo, only for vehicles with a fiscal value less than ¢15 million colones.
While the Legislative building being closed due to a coronavirus outbreak on Thursday, legislators met virtually Monday afternoon, to reach a consensus for the reopening of legislative sessions today, Tuesday.
The agreement is based on a scaled value and reduction.
For cars with a fiscal (tax) value of up to ¢7 million colones, the reduction will be 50%; for vehiclies with a fiscal value of between ¢7 and ¢10 million colones, the reduction will be 25%; and for vehicles with a fiscal value between ¢10 and ¢15 million colones, the reduction will be 15%.
Thus, for example, the owner of a vehicle valued at ¢1.6 million will see the 2021 Marchamo drop from ¢45,500 to ¢22,500, while the overall Marchamo on said vehicle will drop from ¢85,500 to ¢63,000.
That is the effect because the reduction is on the tax portion only that makes up about 64% of the total Marchamo, and not on all the components such as mandatory insurance or SOA (about 22%), Cosevi (4.7%) and the rest for the tax on SOA and the stamps for fauna and scouts.
The reduction doesn’t also apply to outstanding traffic fines.
Last Thursday, legislators were to have discussed and voted the tax benefit on vehicles with a value of ¢20 million to ¢50 million, meawhile the Administration of Carlos Alvarado had propsed a cap of ¢4.2 million colones.
The agreement on Momday seeks that luxury vehicles do not benefit from the reduction. In addition, vehicles owned by members of the Judicial, Administrative and Legislative powers will not receive the benefit.
As indicated by deputy Roberto Thompson, of the Partido Liberacion Nacional (PLN), the amounts were agreed by consensus by the fractions to be able to advance with the bill and vote on it this Tuesday in the first debate. The second debate would be on Thursday.
“We had a long meeting today (Monday), with representatives of the different political parties with the proponents of the original bills, in principle we reached an agreement on the amounts to an eventual reduction,” said Thompson.
Enrique Sánchez, head of the Partido Accion Cuidadana (PAC) – ruling party, confirmed that the government party is part of the negotiation.
“Our interest is that the reduction does not apply to luxury cars, to cars of more than ¢15 million, that the reduction is staggered: the higher the value of the car, the lower the reduction; that the members of the Supreme Powers be excluded, including the legislators.
“We participated in this negotiation, understanding that a large part of the Costa Rican population will require relief in the face of economic damage, but we are also clear that it cannot create a gap in public finances,” explained Sánchez.
The Marchamo goes on sale on November 1 and is payable on or before December 31 of each year.
