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Bill would permit tax authorities to seize properties, bank accounts without court order

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May 15th, 2015 (InsideCostaRica.com) Tax authorities would be able to seize property and bank accounts of delinquent taxpayers without a court order or judicial review as part of a bill aimed at fighting tax evasion making its way through Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly.

 

The measure is just one example of what the Technical Services Department of the Legislative Assembly is concerned could be excesses in the bill, the first legal reform initiated by the Solis administration in an effort to reign in the country’s fiscal deficit.

 

The report, issued by the department this week, warns measures in the bill could affect property rights and the privacy of individuals, allowing tax officials to take possession of any funds deposited in bank accounts, as well as income from salaries and pensions, in addition to any real property including homes, land, and vehicles.

 

The bill would also entitle tax authorities to private bank records and to enter business premises and seize assets, all without a court order.  Taxpayers could receive as little notice as a simple e-mail that they are considered to be in arrears before tax authorities could begin seizing property, the report warns.

 

The report warns that such measures could be considered unconstitutional, and that all civil, criminal, commercial, and labor disputes are intended to fall under the responsibility and authority of the judiciary, not extrajudicial agencies or ministries.

 

Deputy Minister of Revenue, Fernando Rodriguez, argues that the reforms are not an “invention” of the Ministry of Finance, but are based on “technical studies of other countries,” especially one prepared by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), according to the daily La Nacion.

 

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  • dr meno

    Costa Rica, You are becoming more and more like the USA. You allowed your past presidents borrow too much money, and now you have the criminal banksters enforcing these laws. They want their interest payment.

    Austerity in Costa Rica,
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPRQD9-KmK4
    NWO Takeover of Costa Rica. All The Signs Are There, 20 of them.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzuNlRoxIQc

  • richard schlinder

    May I remind Sr. Rodrigues that this is not other countries. This is your home. Be careful what you wish for.Besides,The constitutional court will through this bill out faster than a cat with his tail on fire.

  • Ken Morris

    While I’m all for going after tax cheats, and even see the wisdom of empowering the tax authorities to go after resources before the cheaters have a chance to transfer them to foreign bank accounts, I’m afraid this bill goes too far. The debtors deserve due process, just like everyone else.

    Based upon my experience with CR bureaucracies, the clerks aren’t always right, and neither do they always tell the truth. I’m hestitant to permit the tax authorities to confiscate money or property based only on their belief that money is owed and their statement that the debtor was notified. I can personally give many examples of a bureaucrat being simply wrong about my case, and several examples of a bureaucrat saying I was notified when I was not.

    Moreover, while it’s all well and good to raid the bank account of a tax cheat, how do the authorities know that money is even the debtor’s? Maybe it includes a spouse’s money too, or maybe the funds were earmarked for child support payments. In the name of collecting back taxes, does CR want innocent spouses and children hurt?

    I think there may be some reasonable compromise here. Perhaps, in egregious cases, accounts can be frozen for say three days pending an impartial hearing (by like a judge–not the tax ministry), providing the debtor is personally notified the first day and there is solid proof of notification. There should also be a provision to allow the accused recourse with financial compensation if the tax ministry’s actions turn out to have been based on incorrect information.

    In all, there probably are cases of tax cheating that justify empowering the authorities to act quickly and decisively, but the accused is still entitled to due process.

  • Chris Thomas

    Costa Rica one of the most corrupt countries on planet earth, no wonder most foreign investment is leaving the country.

  • duke ster

    Even since many years ago Gringos were stopped downtown and asked for their papers. Now ICR reported on a man stopped at a roadblock in San Jose, searched and having his money taken away, granted USA would have taken that amount( $350k) away also , however in USA the man could fight for the money’s return–in CR? Probably not, AND, in USA you don’t get stopped and asked for your papers while walking down the street AND they don’t set up roadblocks to search people.
    Costa Rica is getting worse and worse and NOW a bill to confiscate your property and money from your bank account! AS Ken Morris pointed out, ( in a nice way) these are TICOS for crying out loud! A tico is going to be in charge of taking my money and property based on his idea of whether or not a person is a tax cheat!!!!!??????? A TICO? Some might describe them as The most dishonest lying cheating bastards on the planet. And now a bill is being presented which could allow a Tico to decide whether or not to confiscate your money? WOW!!! WOW!!!WOW!!!
    Allow me to tell this story 1 more time… how I arrived in CR and was busy looking for a proper place to rent etc and forgot to pay my new cell phone bill on time and so ICE confiscated my phone number, deleted it FOREVER, and stopped me from having a cell account for 6 months as a penality for being a week late paying a cell bill?
    F*&k Costa Rica!!! and you left stable, good ‘ol USA to live here? Can I ask WHY? WHY? WHY?
    Now you see, as reported in this fine news vehicle ICR, in 1 weeks time, road blocks where idiots search you and take your money? Actually the cops in Grecia were targeting Gringos and taking their license plates until several Gringos contacted OIJ who did an undercover operation and caught the crooked cops. ( Let me point out that the cops arrested were seen BY ME on the job again 1 week later), but that was not the fault of OIJ. That was the crooked judges.

    and in the same weeks time you see a bill proposed where they can take your property and bank account?
    YES I left, YES I am happy I left, will I return? NEVER! Am I happy I am back in the good old USA? You bet your a$$ I am.
    I don’t even have to lock my door in my neighborhood and such were the bad experiences I had in CR I still carry the mental scars. Just yesterday I left several things out in my yard and the thought hit me as to how safe I felt doing so and how I would NEVER take my eyes off my things in CR–even for a second! What a shitty way to live!
    When are YOU coming home my friend? IT’s nice here, safe, quiet, friendly, we don’t worry about setting things down and we leave our car windows down and unlocked ..ok not always but you get the point. SO….is it worth it to live there? How much longer until the hammer comes all the way down on you? Already you are living in a prison.. just by living in that SH*t culture. And Yes, Chris Thomas, you are correct.

  • SDPUS

    No due process? Surely, this will be a tool of rogue government workers. Used primarily to extort. If anyone is ever able to get any money back when wrongly accused, surely they will have to use the assistance of the countries corrupt body of lawyers. I can see it now. They will say they can get your money back, but it will cost a 50% fee to do so. Corruption is extremely rampant in Costa Rica. Make no doubt, if you are a foreigner, this will be another tool to target you. Costa Rica doesn’t just suffer from their poor and impoverished from stealing from tourists. The real thieves are organized and work within its government. All too often the good people in government, just sit back quietly, and allow their country to be pilfered by the many organized crime syndicates that operate within this government. The elites financially bilk millions from government. The Attorney General of Costa Rica (Chavarria) is not at all interested in prosecuting these government crime syndicates. He must be part of it. Take Santa Cruz, Guanacaste and their Mayor (Chavarria) and their OIJ Santa Cruz Jefe (Chavarria) for instance…they are a breeding ground of corruption in Santa Cruz. They obviously operate with impunity from the central government in San Jose. Mayor Chavarria has once been removed from office, only to return. Coincidentally these 3 all share the same last name (Chavarria).

    Until Costa Rica has an Attorney General who will seriously prosecute government crime syndicates who freely operate in their government, the country will remain unsafe. Anyone looking to move here should be well aware of these realities.

    Corruption exists everywhere, but in Costa Rica, it is totally institutionalized– and foreigners are a prime target. The CR law system is specifically designed to deter tourists from ever obtaining justice. Just look at the recent cases of Ann Bender, Barry Lawson and the host of others who have been robbed, beaten, jailed or even killed. The internet is full of these ex-pat horror stories.

    For a country that relies on tourism, it is purely criminal to its citizens, that the central government only provides band aids to give the appearance of fixing theses problems. If the central government is not willing to remove rogue government workers, then you can bet things will not change and only get worse for the nation as a whole.

  • disqus_r8w0IwvvLw

    Costa Rica is going down the tubes of the NWO to feed the Power Pigs That Be much much faster than I thought would happen. Like Dr. Meno below said in one of his videos, all the signs are here, signs of what is happening right in all our faces. This proposed bill is just another way of “taking” the public’s bank accounts (similar to what happened in Greece and Argentina) to fill the moneyaddicts coffers. An addict never gets enough.

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