The Legislature voted unanimously on Monday a motion to establish a special forum of deputies to study the implications of #PanamaPapers in Costa Rica.
The legislative commission aims to investigate the practices and loopholes that encourage tax evasion by taxpayers.
The proponent Deputy Citizen Action Party (PAC), Victor Morales, acknowledged the importance of investigative journalism to reveal the ease with which some individuals and companies use mechanisms to avoid paying taxes to the tax authorities.
The legislative forum will be holding hearings to obtain input from experts in tax matters to explain the phenomenon and possible solutions to the problem.
He also invited personnel from the Attorney General’s Office and the Comptroller General of the Republic to provide technical recommendations to combat tax evasion.
At the end of the study period – whose term was not established-the commission shall submit to Congress a report on the mechanisms used to evade taxes, in addition to legal reforms needed to close the loopholes.
The forum will consist of three members of the National Liberation Party (PLN), two of CAP, one of the Frente Amplio, one of the Social Cristiana (PUSC) unit and two other fractions. The names are not yet defined.
#PanamaPapers are large leaked documents exposing different transnational world leaders’ assets linked to tax havens.
The information came from anonymous German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung that decided to share it with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ by its acronym in English) manner.
In Costa Rica, the research unit of AmeliaRueda.com, DataBaseAR and Semanario Universidad, information worked independently, each reaching their own conclusions and presenting them on their own.
Source: AmeliaRueda.com