Costa Rica has assured that it will work to revoke the «sanctions» by the EU after the European bloc included the country in the list of tax havens for not abolishing or modifying the harmful aspects of its foreign source income exemption regime.
«I have called my counterparts, the foreign ministers of all these countries; with some of them I have been able to talk to their chiefs of staff to explain Costa Rica’s position and avoid any negative consequences derived from this situation», said the Minister of Finance, Nogui Acosta, during an interview with the program Nuestra Voz, broadcasted in Channel 2.
In this sense, he reiterated that Costa Rica must convince and make «credible» to the Member States that it is working on such tax reforms. «So that (…) they give us a chance until October, when they meet again to be able to show that Costa Rica is moving in the right direction,» he said.
Acosta was referring to the deadline expired last January by which it should have undertaken such measures. The Minister of Finance explained that the country had already informed the EU in May that, to do so, it would have to undertake a legislative reform that did not depend on the Executive and that, therefore, it would need a longer period of time.
«There was a change of government in May, so a promise was made outside its term, and (it) promised the European Union that, by January 1, 2023, this reform would be in force», he explained during the interview, adding that, indeed, Costa Rica «failed to meet» this deadline.
In this sense, he pointed out that «the non-adoption» of these fiscal suggestions by the EU causes the Member States to impose «defensive measures». «It is a name that in our language would be sanctions,» he said.
