(QCOSTARICA) “No new taxes will be announced on Friday,” said the Minister of the Presidency (Chief of Staff), Marcelo Prieto, who has ruled out, for now, adding new taxes to revive the economy.
“I can assure you that there is no announcement of new taxes on Friday and that the presentation that the Planning Minister, Pilar Garrido, will show a focus on the reactivation of the economy as soon as we manage to get out of the crisis of the covid-19 ”, Prieto declared to Noticias Monumental.
However, in an interview with La Nación, published on Tuesday, President Carlos Alvarado stated that the coronavirus crisis will force to raise “temporary surcharges.”
“(The situation) pushes us to take temporary measures. That is to say, some temporary surcharges will have to be proposed, distributing the burdens in society, among those who can do it ”.
Prieto was also emphatic: “the bill to temporarily tax a percentage of salaries greater than ¢1 million, is not being discussed as a priority at this time,” in order to allocate the proceeds to aid subsidies for the victims.
The minister assures that the announcement made by President Carlos Alvarado, that he will donate 10% of his salary to the victims, is a “symbolic gesture”, but it is not related to the possibility that the government will send the bill to the Legislature.
The government is expected on Friday, May 8, to announce measures, among them a stimulus package, for the next step in the process of living with the covid-19, with focus on reviving the economy.
