Saturday 01 November 2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Attack of Three
Casino Workers Could Have Been Avoided,
Says Fiscal General
Luxury Home Tax To
House Poor
Law Requires Home
Address To Be Accurate
And Current
Unemployment Looms
Gasoline Prices
Coming Down Next Week
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Luxury Home Tax To House
Poor
Costa Rican legislators
have approved a tax on
luxury homes that will
help eradicate "precarios"
(shantytowns), although
it is not known yet how
much money the tax will
raise and how it will
actually be used.
The luxury home tax
applied to all homes
valued at more than ¢110
million colones
(us$200.000). The tax
applies only to the
value of the
construction and not the
land that the homes sits
on.
According to figures
released by the Registro
Nacional (National
Registry) there are some
6.500 homes that will be
affected by the new tax,
which will be in place
for the next ten years
and is expected to
provide the government a
revenue stream of some
¢25 billion colones a
year, according to the
president of the
Comisión Asuntos
Sociales, Ofelia
Taitelbaum, quoting
estimates by the
Ministerio de Hacienda
(Revenue Ministry).
Taitelbaum emphasized
that the actual amount
collected will depend on
the actions of Hacienda
and if they will enforce
the regulation with
rigor.
The luxury tax plan was
the proposed by Federico
Tinoco of the Partido
Liberación Nacional (PLN)
- the ruling party.
A survey by the
Instituto Nacional de
Estadística y Censos (INEC)
- National Census
Institute - shows that
the number of poor
increased over last
year, meaning more
people living in
precarios, while the
increase in foreigners
coming to Costa Rica has
influenced the rise in
the prices of homes,
especially in places
like Escazú, Rohrmoser
and Santa Ana, forcing
many local residents to
move to lower priced
areas. |
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