Government Surplus
Recorded for 2007, the
First In The Last 50
Years
For the first time in 50
years the country last
year closed with a
surplus, as expenses of
the central government
were lower than income.
The surplus was ¢86.7
billion colones and is
the first time since
1957 according to the
Banco Central de Costa
Rica (BCCR) records.
In contrast, the central
government closed with a
deficit of ¢78.1 billion
colones in 2006.
Guillermo Zúñiga,
ministro de Hacienda
(Revenue minister).
attributed the surplus
to programs to increase
tax collection.
Jenny Phillips,
viceminister of income
at Hacienda, explained
that the Tecnología de
Información para el
Control Aduanero (TICA)
- customs tax collection
program, has been an
important tool in
increasing tax revenues.
Phillips added that the
programs are more
complex now with more
investigation and cross
referencing of
information on
businesses, citing that
in 2005 there were
356.000 tax
contributors, while
today there are more
than 402.000 tax payers.
Phillips said that this
year there will be a
increase in cross
referencing of the
different government
agencies and will be
reviwing data of the
different professional
organizations to
identify potential
taxpayers who declare
income but do not pay
their taxes.
The increased tax
revenue has made Revenue
minister Zuñiga very
happy, but was cautious
to offer predictions for
2008, saying that the
International Monetary
Fund (IMF) predicted a
5% growth for 2008 in
Costa Rica while the
United States faces a
possible recession.
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