Legislative Assembly Approves Tax and Customs Amnesty in El Salvador  

November 2, 2023

On November 1, 2023, the Legislative Assembly approved the "Special and Transitory Law that grants Facilities for the Voluntary Compliance of Tax and Customs Obligations", effective until December 8, 2023.

Through this tax amnesty, taxpayers are exempted from the payment of fines and interest of internal (VAT, Income, payment on account, withholdings, specific ad valorem taxes, real estate transfer tax) and custom taxes (import VAT and import custom duties) that make, during the validity of said legislative decree the payment of the original or complementary taxes owed, or regularize the balances in favor that they have declared in an amount greater than that which legally corresponds to them in previous periods or years. , or certified declarations of goods, whose date or deadline to settle or present the declaration has expired until September 30, 2023.

In addition to the exemption of payment of fines and interests, this tax amnesty allows the payment in installments, in a maximum of 9 paying 10% of the total amount in the first installment. The benefit of fines that are not accessory to taxes (isolated fines) is that they may be paid in up to 9 monthly installments, with an initial payment of 25% of the total. In certain cases, when the fine is accessory to the tax, said tax amnesty only exonerates the payment of interests, but not the payment of fines. It allows the payment of these through their payment system up to a maximum of 9 installments, with the first one to be paid in 10%.

Payment may be made in any legal tender, cashier’s, cashier’s or certified checks, Public Treasury Credit Notes, credit or debit cards accepted by the General Treasury Directorate and by presenting the corresponding tax returns or merchandise declarations, as applicable.

The presidential sanction of such legislative decree and the publication in the respective Official Gazette are the next steps in the law formation process.

If you would like to know if your situation fits within this criteria and benefit from such amnesty, or if you would like us to support and assist you in the process, or like to more information about it, please contact us at the following e-mail addresses: Luis.Barahona@ariaslaw.com, Rene.Gacia@ariaslaw.com

 The information provided by ARIAS® is presented for informational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and is not intended to create, and does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. Readers should not act upon this information without seeking advice from professional advisers.

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