RICO’s DIGEST (OPINION) The government of Rodrigo Chaves announced Wednesday a reduction in the collection of the 2023 Marchamo after an update in the methodology.
According to the information, the reduction would be a whopping ¢500 to ¢3,500 colones. An insulting amount, in my opinion.
In my case, my 1975 Toyota Landcruiser has a fiscal value (the amount used to calculate the tax for the Marchamo) of ¢310,000 colones. That is an amount more than 20 times the original cost of the vehicle 47 years ago. And with each passing year, it seems to go up, magically keeping my annual Marchamo payment almost the same, a few colones less this year with the adjustment (if applied to my vehicle).
According to the Ministry of Finance, the calculation in the formula was made with August inflation, which was at 12%; however, it was decided by decree that it be calculated with September inflation, which was at 10.66%.
President Chaves said that the decision falls on the number of claims that the government has received for the amount of the Marchamo.
Chaves added that 8 out of 10 vehicles will see the reduction.
On Friday, Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS) – the national insurer in charge of collecting the Marchamo, said their website would be offline until Monday to make the changes.
The Minister of Finance, Nogui Acosta, explained that a bill will also be presented to reform the calculation of the Marchamo.
As early payers of the Marchamo, they will be refunded the difference through a mobile application that will be released in the coming days.
I’ve said it before and will say it again, in Costa Rica, it doesn’t pay to pay your bills, be it a traffic ticket, Marchamo, utility bill, and son, early. Always wait until the last possible day.
