After Netflix had to rectify how much Value Added Tax (VAT) it would charge Costa Ricans, it made it clear that taxes are higher in other latitudes where they offer their services.
Costa Rica is the fifth country in Latin America that charges less VAT, along with Bolivia and El Salvador, with 13% on goods and services. The country that charges the least VAT in the subcontinent is Panama, with 7%, while Uruguay, at the other end of the ranking, taxes goods and services with 22%.
The average VAT charged worldwide is 15%, and the Latin American average is below that percentage: 9%, according to data from Baker & McKenzie, a legal firm that advises global companies.
The data for the comparison were extracted from official information from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Latin American countries with lower VAT (Figure in percentages %)
- 1. Panama (7)
- 2. Paraguay (10)
- 3. Puerto Rico (11.5)
- 4. Ecuador, Guatemala and Venezuela (12)
- 5. Costa Rica, Bolivia and El Salvador (13)
