Comments on: Banks must soon retain 2% of credit card payments as advance payment of income tax

By: Michael Clarkson

Michael Clarkson — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 03:08:00 +0000

Ok what is the point to pay more taxes if the government will steal it anyway the politicians for their own personal gain and they do not invest a cent in the infrastructure, why make more laws if the laws in place are not enforced or they do not work is senseless and endless, pointless is a 360 degree turn that will lead them back to the same problems.

By: prdatki

prdatki — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 15:09:00 +0000

I have a better ideal Tax crooked Politicians and Clergy. How much do you think the last two Presidents should pay?

By: Karen Mata

Karen Mata — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 14:20:00 +0000

Hi Upset,

Argentina’s problem simply stemmed from racking up huge foreign debt which they were unable to pay back.

Any google search will confirm that.

Costa Rica is facing the same set of problems. Maybe they have a Patagonia to settle their debts too..??

By: mhogan

mhogan — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 12:50:00 +0000

Agree. Used to think there were only two rules for economic freedom: 1. never live in the country in which you are a citizen and 2. never keep your money in the country you live in. Now I add a caveat: never live in a 3rd world country (like Costa Rica) unless you have lots of money to wield influence, otherwise you’ll be screwed like their own citizens.

By: Upset with goverment of CR

Upset with goverment of CR — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 00:10:00 +0000

Sad to say that Costa Rican Tax man is like SS Nazi now i hear many business closing now in CR because of Costa Rica crazy tax enforcement. I would watch your back with Costa Rican Tax man they like closing business over nothing to show off. I hope your business does well.

By: Upset with goverment of CR

Upset with goverment of CR — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 00:05:00 +0000

Argentina problems are because of US hedge funds. US hedge fund bet against countries in Latin America. US hedge funds bet against Costa Rica and many other countries. But your right on the bank account this could happen like Cyprus.

By: Karen Mata

Karen Mata — Thu, 28 Aug 2014 23:37:00 +0000

The CR bail-in provisions are quickly gaining momentum.
Next up, we freeze all bank accounts until certain you are tax compliant, and possibly put a lien on your property regardless of tax status.

CR is going the way of Argentina, but with ticos being such dullards and ingrates can only imagine the coming surprises.

By: Likk Mii

Likk Mii — Thu, 28 Aug 2014 23:04:00 +0000

TRANSLATION : Credit cards no longer accepted in Costa Rica.

By: turbooperator

turbooperator — Thu, 28 Aug 2014 20:53:00 +0000

Us consumers have to pay an instant 13% tax every time we make a purchase (with credit/debit at least). Maybe the government should trust us to pay up at the end of the year. I, too, have better uses for my money. But I’d rather pay a tax on each transaction than have to come up with the all the tax for all my transactions at tax time.

By: Ken Morris

Ken Morris — Thu, 28 Aug 2014 19:53:00 +0000

I sympathize with the rationale here, which is to enforce tax compliance in a society where tax cheating is common, but think this particular edict will be counterproductive. It probably will have the effect of further discouraging merchants from accepting plastic, when the tax people want to encourage the use of plastic in order to have better records of transactions. Also, it might help push prices up, not a good thing. On the balance, while I would be interested in listening to arguments in favor of this policy, it strikes me a boneheaded idea.

As an aside, while I strongly support enforcement of tax laws, I wonder if the Department of Taxation may be out of control regarding their tactics.

I remember when two tax guys came into my bar to investigate. Nothing wrong with the tax guys investigating, but I couldn’t help noticing that they came in during peak business hours and expected the staff and manager to stop what they were doing (serving customers) to produce the paperwork and whatnot they demanded. This didn’t seem right to me, even seemed heavy-handed. Come on, while it’s perfectly legitimate for tax guys to investigate businesses for compliance, I also think they have an obligation to respect that a business needs to make a profit before it can pay a tax. You don’t investigate a business in a way that interferes with its attempt to do business.

There may be some heavy-handing arrogance in the tax bureaucracy, the way there is in every government bureaucracy I’ve ever dealt with in CR, that really isn’t right. This 2% tax on plastic purchases strikes me as another instance.