QCOSTARICA – “I’ll be back” is a catchphrase associated with Arnold Schwarzenegger, which he first used in his role as the title character from the 1984 science fiction film The Terminator. However, it can equally apply well to the “corporations tax” in Costa Rica, that refuses to die.
On Tuesday, the bill that aims to revive the tax on corporations (impuesto a las sociedades anomimas in Spanish) was endorsed by the Legislative Committee on Financial Affairs (Comisión de Asuntos Hacendarios de la Asamblea Legislativa).
Related:
- New “Corporations Tax Law” Proposed for 2016
- President Solis Looking To Revive ‘Corporations Tax’
- Corporations Tax Could Be Revived, But Not Until Spending Cuts Occur Says Opposition
- 80% of Corporations Have Not Paid the 2015 Tax
- If The Law Creating the Corporations Tax Is Unconstitutional, Why Do I Have To Pay?
- Owners of Corporations Are Exposed to Closures for Non-payment of Corporations Tax
The text was accepted affirmatively by legislators of the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN); Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC), and the Partido Frente Amplio (FA). Legislators of the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC), and Movimiento Libertario (ML) did not.
According to PLN legislator, Rolando Gonzalez, the bill that reestablishes the tax on corporations enacted by the administration of Laura Chinchilla Miranda (2010-2014) and struck down by Constitutional Court on January 29, 2015, received seven votes in favour and two against.
The bill, which now goes to the Legislative floor, intends to tax corporations from between ¢63.000 colones (for inactive) to ¢212.000 colones (for active and according to earnings), annually.
If the bill does get legislative approval, it would allow the government to raise up to ¢47 billion colones annually, 95% of which would be used to finance the operations of the Ministry of Security, with the remaining going to the prison system and the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ).
