The idea is to create two new tax regimes while eliminating the possibility of joining any of the current 10 regimes. This change doesn’t affect us currently as issuing of new ZOLITUR permits stopped years ago. The Secretary of the Presidency is correct in the video published: they aren’t eliminating the existing benefits, just any future possibility to affiliate.
In the justification for the proposal of this new law, the legislator also cited corrupt practices by all the regimes. Among other abuses stated, were that under ZOLITUR benefits. There are five companies that import twice the amount of fuel the island can consume.
I would like to know where they got the numbers for this statement. We haven’t had a proper census in years on the island, just an electoral one. I want to see the compiled data for what 1 person consumes in fuel according to this study for the Tax Law proposal.
Here is data I want them to show in this tax proposal. Honduras is projected to generate $600 million in tourism revenue in 2023. With two million visitors expected, vast majority of the income is coming from the Bay Islands.
One third of revenue generated by Roatan cruise ships ends on the mainland and stays there. On the other hand cruise ships that dock here, deplete our resources: our water, roads and beaches.
This could open the door to a spike in kidnappings.
As islanders and resident ex-pats we pay plenty in local and federal taxes. On the other hand, what central government invests back here is very little to sustain the natural resources and protect the tourism industry that produces this income for them.
Personally I think that when it comes to tourism in Honduras, Bay Islands leads the way. When it comes to remembering the island for projects from central government well let’s just say we are far from their top priority.
The new law also proposes to eliminate the bank confidentiality to allow the tax offices to freely have access to our bank records without a court order. Every employee that works at the tax office will have the ability to access your bank information. As information about individual cash assets will become accessible this could open the door to a spike in kidnappings like 20 years ago.
Here is where it gets fun for the islands and the field of real estate. The Honduran lawmakers are pushing to eliminate bearer share corporations. This is a problem, as we islanders pay more capital gains tax here than anywhere else in Honduras. We pay on actual sale value and they pay on cadastral value or an assessed value.
We are allegedly charged only 4% instead of the 10% that is paid on the mainland. We pay that tax regardless of affiliation to ZOLITUR for the benefits. I believe that ZOLITUR is doing a fine job spending our money on its projects in sanitation and infrastructure.
The new law makes it sound like we don’t pay any taxes to the government at all. The companies under the ZOLITUR regime still must collect the taxes and pay them to the government. An audit to weed out those abusing the ZOLITUR system is needed, I’m all for that.
