QCOSTARICA -The reduction of the 2022 Marchamo, approved by the legislature last week, now depends on the signature of President Carlos Alvarado, who also has the power of the veto.
Franggi Nicolás, a PLN legislator and promoter of the reduction bill, asks the president to “put himself in the shoes of the people.”
“Fortunately, despite the pettiness of this government and the threats of a boycott from the ruling party, they could not reduce the votes necessary for this bill to reduce the Marchamo. When I presented it together with other fellow legislators, it was clear that, in the midst of this tough crisis, citizens deserve signs of relief that will allow them to close this year with greater ease,” said Nicolás.
The president must sign the bill before November 1 begins, otherwise, it cannot be applied.
Read more: The future of the 2022 Marchamo reduction in limbo
What the legislator is referring to is one of three options President Alvarado has with the bill now sitting on his desk: that is do nothing – not make a political decision to veto or not – and let the prescribed time run its course, that would in effect allow the bill to go into effect.
But the time makes the time run down useless as the bill has to be signed by the president and published in La Gaceta, the official government newsletter, prior to November 1, the mandate date for the Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS) to start collecting the annual circulation permit.
Yes, there could be a slight delay, as was the case last year, when the 2021 Marchamo payment became available on November 2.
The opposition to the bill, PAC legislators, warned the same warning of the Alvarado government of the effect on public finances, a ¢30 billion colones hole in the public pocketbook.
The Marchamo reduction establishes a staggered charge, in which owners of vehicles with a higher tax value would pay more, to vehicles with a fiscal or tax value of less than ¢15 million colones.
The bill also includes a condonation of past Marchamos, that is to say owners of vehicles who have outstanding Marchamos can get their debt with the government wiped clean with the payment of the 2022 Marchamo by the December 31 due date.
If the President vetoes the bill, the law requires it to be sent back to the legislature with changes. Timing is the key here, given that November 1 is less than a legislator’s work week away, there most likely won’t be enough time for the changes to make it through the legislative process.
Stay tuned.
