Tax Reform Stalled While Opposition Requests Constitutional Clarity
As promised on Friday, Otto Guevara of the Movimiento Libertario (ML) along with 12 other Legislative Deputies, at 10:30am presented their request over the constitutionality of the Plan Fiscal (Tx Reform) to the Constitutional Court or Salva IV.

In effect, the move will stall the passing into law of the Tax Reform for at least a month as the Constitutional Court studies the request and makes a ruling.

In a press conference, Guevara, who also is a presidential candidate and was in third place at the stopping of vote counting on Feb. 6, said that the Tax Reform bill approved in first reading by the Legislature by a vote of 32 to 15, will cost Costa Rican families ¢190 billion colones (us$380 million) a year.

"If one does the math and you divide the amount the new law pretends to collect, it will cost each Costa Rican family ¢190.000 colones (us$380.) a year. During the presidential campaign we talked about how the Plan Fiscal would affect not only families but small business as well as they will see the cost of living and doing business rise", said Guevara.

Last Thursday the Tax Reform got the approval in the Legislature of both the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) and the Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC), supporting the initiate by the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC).

The constitutional request will ask the Constitutional Court to examine a number of violations to legislative procedures and constitutional breaches contained in the 375 page document.