American Expatriate Costa Rica

Deputies sent draft of law on speculative investment to the Constitutional Chamber

Economist notes that the dollar should fluctuate. CRH.


A group of legislators from several political parties have asked the Constitutional Court to review a bill that has passed on its first reading that would discourage speculative capital inflows to the country. The proposal was supposed to be debated for the last and final time on Thursday, but the review could delay it for up to one month.

Legislators say the bill has constitutional problems because it would delegate the power to levy a tax to the executive branch of government. According to the constitution, this is a power given exclusively to the Congress.

Critics also say it has technical problems in that it would be easy for a foreign company to circumvent the rules by setting up a local corporation. The bill proposes to establish a tax of 30 percent on interest earned by non-domiciled investment funds and require a deposit of up to 25 percent of the funds invested.

Other law makers believe that the bill would infringe on personal rights.

Source crhoy.com