New tax on Costa Rica’s lottery prizes could affect regulator’s finances

The initiative to introduce a lottery prizes tax in Costa Rica has drawn new criticism, as it is believed taxing small prizes could boost illegal lotteries.
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The initiative to introduce a tax on lottery prizes in Costa Rica has drawn new criticism, as it is believed that taxing small prizes could boost illegal lotteries.

The measure, which is currently in the initial consultation phase of the Legal Affairs Committee, has not received a vote in which it would be defined whether it’s moved to the plenary session or if it’s dismissed.

Franggi Nocolás Solano, a Representative of the political party Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN), said to Teletica: “This project [emerged] from an obsession of this administration to tax even the hope that Costa Ricans have in winning the lottery.”

The representative stated that this measure not only includes a 25% tax on prizes higher than 225 colones, it could also ‘affect the finances of the Social Protection Board (JPS) and discourage the consumption of Costa Ricans as they know that the profits would be lower’.

Representative Jonathan Prendas Rodríguez added that the implementation of this tax would stop people from purchasing tickets, and since there is currently no control [on lotteries], ‘it would be like giving free reign to illegal lotteries’.

JPS President Esmeralda Britton also assured that they have the responsibility to verify and propose different alternatives to stop social contributions from being affected by these projects.

“In this sense, we are still working on different scenarios. We already have some [options] and the one that the Ministry of Finance has proposed. Then, [we will] send that information to the interested parties, starting with the legislative assembly,” she added.