QCOSTARICA — The reduction in the amount of the Marchamo for the 2024 period will be depending on the vehicle’s fiscal value (tax value), from 5% to 50%, once the bill receives final approval this week.
The bill, promoted by the Partido Liberal Progresista (PLP), was approved unanimously Monday afternoon in the first debate and is expected to receive final approval in the second debate on Thursday.
The ruling (government) party, the Partido Progreso Social Democrático (PPSD), announced that there will be no veto from the President.
“This is an achievement, a step forward for this Legislative Assembly,” said Sofía Guillén, legislator for the Frente Amplio, before thanking the different factions for the consensus.
“It is, furthermore, a progressive tax, because the most expensive cars will have a minimum reduction, most of the reduction will be concentrated in medium and small cars, and the mark will no longer be a surprise in December, there will be no uncertainty,” she asserted.
The impact of the collection of the 2024 Marchamo, which begins in the first week of November, will be an estimated ¢52 billion colons that the Ministerio de Hacienda (Ministry of Finance) will not receive.
“The current tax is completely unfair and a very technical explanation is not necessary, because all of us who have a car have experienced it and, year after year, the Ministry of Finance decides, magically, how much our vehicle is going to be worth for purposes to calculate the tax, because the current formula allows adjustments for inflation and giving pernicious discretion to the government in power to classify vehicles,” added PLP legislator and founder of the party, Eliécer Feinzaig.
On Monday, a motion was also approved to clarify that the base of the tax will be the fiscal value that the Treasury has since the text proposed the contractual value or the CIF – valor de ingreso a aduana – (Customs Entry Value), but both had the risk of making the payment of the taxes more expensive. older vehicles.
The motion also includes a reduction in the depreciation of vehicles, which will go from 30 years to 15 and, in addition, excludes inflation from the calculation.
So, how much will be the reduction?
The decrease will range between 5% and 50%, depending on the fiscal (tax) of the vehicle, and will be applied to the property tax of the vehicle, which represents 67% of the total cost, and not the entire amount of the Marchamo, which includes items such as the mandatory insurance, and contribution to the Cosevi, among others.
For example, a vehicle with a tax value of ¢3 million that currently pays ¢79,230 with respect to the property tax would only have to pay ¢39,790, while a vehicle valued at say ¢10 million would only pay ¢215,790 instead of ¢318,705.
“We managed to legislate by and for Costa Ricans! Even against the government’s threat to veto this important initiative, we took a step forward, aware that the lowering of the seal will benefit thousands of families, who at Christmas see their Aguinaldo (Christmas bonus) disappear,” said legislator Francisco Nicolas.
The reduction in the Marchamo excludes the president, all ministers, magistrates, other members of the supreme powers, and legislators.
“For Costa Ricans, a politician is synonymous with corruption and that is because in the past many deputies have come to this Legislative Assembly to create laws to benefit their companies, to benefit their families, to benefit their societies and to benefit themselves. You don’t come here to legislate for the family, you come here to legislate for the most needy classes, for the middle class of this country. For this reason, neither the president, nor the magistrates, nor the ministers, nor the deputies can benefit,” said Leslye Bojorges, legislator for the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC).
