The Ministry of Finance was able to collect ¢98.5 million in the first quarter of 2017 as a result of the public auctions carried out by the country’s customs offices. The highest amount obtained corresponds to the Customs of Limón, where merchandise was auctioned for more than ¢88.3 million colones, followed by the Central Region, Caldera and Paso Canoas.
The amount obtained in these first months of the year exceeds the total collected in 2016 (¢82.5 million) and the auctioned goods are of various kinds, including liquors and vehicles.
The public auction of goods is an instrument used by the Customs Administration to recover the taxes in favor of the Public Treasury, corresponding to the goods that have been abandoned, because they were not destined to a definitive customs regime in the term established by the law.
To be included in the auction process, a good must comply with the following conditions: to be in a state of abandonment in accordance with the scope of article 56 of the General Customs Law, goods from shipwrecks, goods that don’t have a known owner, according to article 78 of that same law and confiscated goods when there is a judicial order that allows to dispose of them, according to article 190 of the Regulation of the General Law of Customs.
To participate in the auctions it is necessary to comply with the customs regulations established for each type of merchandise. For example, when it is awarded liquor, it is important that the person has the distribution license of the product in the country, the respective technical note or non-tariff requirement for nationalization and enrollment in the “Fiscal Register of Importers Manufacturers and Distributors or Sellers of Alcoholic Beverages Wholesale” with the General Directorate of Customs.
In order to collect the corresponding taxes, the customs receive the collaboration of the experts of the General Direction of Taxation, who support the work of assessment of the merchandise.
Those interested in participating in these auctions can look for information in the publications made by the customs in the official newspaper La Gaceta and on the website of the Ministry of Finance www.hacienda.go.cr, section “Records and lists of interest”.