COSTA RICA NEWS — The government of Luis Guillermo Solís, in addition to a Valued Added Tax (VAT), will be pushing in the bill that is expected to be presented to the Legislative Assembly before the year of the year, a tax on income earned abroad.
President Solís made the statement of a world income tax for Costa Ricans on Sunday to Reuters while in New York. However, the President did not give further details.
On Monday, the deputy Minister of Finance, Fernando Rodríguez, announced the current 13% sales tax would be replaced by the VAT, which is harder to evade and more progressive.
Earlier this month, Moody’s downgraded Costa Rica’s credit rating to junk, prompting the government to take action to reduce its fiscal deficit, which according to the Ministerio de Hacienda (Finance Ministry) is estimated at 6.7% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015.
The VAT and world income tax that will be proposed in the coming months by the government will require approval by the Legislative Assembly.
If Costa Rica’s legislators approve the government’s proposal, it will join the United States, France, United Kingdom and recent newcomer, Canada, among the countries that expect its citizens to pay income tax on income earned throughout the world.