(QCOSTARICA) The Ministro de Seguridad (Minister of Security), Gustavo Mata has threatened to resign his post if legislators don’t approve the return of the Corporations Tax, that is used primarily to finance his portfolio.
Gustava’s statement Monday morning of his eventual resignation came after providing details of the shooting in Cieneguita de Limon that left five innocent people dead (two ladies and a teenager had died at the scene of shooting, overnight an adult man and 11 year old boy died in hospital from their wounds), on Sunday afternoon.
Mata said the incident could have been avoided if he had more police in the area. He added that the lack of financial resources does not allow his ministry with a sufficient police presence.
The minister said, if the tax on corporations is approved, there would be sufficient financial resources to hire and recruit the necessary human resources to combat such incidents.
“This country should have 18,000 police officials to deal with the current crime. For every 100,000 inhabitants we should have 300 policemen,” said the minister, adding that he has begged the Legislature to give him more resources, which they have not.
“I have decided that if in 30 days the budget is not approved, I will submit my resignation to President Luis Guillermo Solis (…) Ladies and gentlemen of the legislature, I beg you to approve the budget. We must support the OIJ (Organismo de Investigación Judicial) in creating a specialized unit to combat organized crime,” said Mata.
The minister estimates he needs some 3,000 more police officers to cover the entire country.
The tax on corporations was introduced by the Laura Chinchilla (2010-2014) administration and struck down by the Constitutional Court effective for the 2016 tax year, leaving a large gap in tax revenue. The corporations tax required all active corporations to pay an annual tax equivalent to US$300 dollars.
In April of this year, the Legislative Committee on Financial Affairs endorsed bill to revive the tax on corporations. So far there has been no forward movement on the endorsement.
