In the latest version of the bill on value added tax (VAT) sent by the Government to the Legislative Assembly in December, there was a proposal to collect the tax on card payments for using services such as Uber, Airbnb and the like.
This was reported by the Ministry of Finance in a statement sent on Tuesday, addressed to the taxi drivers union. The entity added that since October 2015 it has initiated actions to verify the corresponding information, in order to establish Uber’s tax liabilities for its operations in Costa Rica.
Helio Fallas, first vice president and finance minister responded to a complaint made by the Red Trade Union Force (Furosin), a group that stated that his ministry had not responded to the complaints presented by the taxi drivers’ association.
Since we learned about the operation of this platform in the country for information disseminated in the media, queries from third parties and complaints received in the DenuncieYA app, our General Directorate of Taxation has been following up on the issue. Proof of this is the attention to the representatives of this group of workers, and the responses to the notes they have sent, which categorically denies what was said by Furosin and does not justify its intention to make a demonstration under this argument,”
said the Fallas.
The General Director of Taxation, Carlos Vargas, reported that since September 2016, a criterion was issued in the sense that the economic activity deployed by Uber at the national level, is eventually subject to tax regulations, which is why they have been requesting information from companies related to this activity in the country.
In addition, some the most recent steps is the requirement of information to the Dutch tax administration in relation to the parent company operating in the Netherlands.
We have always attended the meeting requests of the representatives of the taxi drivers’ association. Since mid-2017 they were told that without the list of people who provide this service in the country the process is more cumbersome, especially because of the operation methods of the companies linked to the activity. We even explained in detail how they operate and we informed them about the information request before the Dutch administration, and we even gave them a copy,”
said Vargas.