Tax revenues grow by 11 percent in first quarter

Revenue generated primarily by fuel, corporations and tobacco taxes increased Costa Rican tax revenues by 11.4 percent during the first three months of this year, the Finance Ministry reported on Monday.

Despite the increase, the country’s deficit also was maintained during the first quarter, “because the government in 2013 has invested more in infrastructure,” according to the report.

State spending also grew by nearly 11 percent, so that the fiscal deficit for the first quarter of this year remains at 1.4 percent of gross domestic product.

The report also indicates that the Finance Ministry has stepped up efforts to prevent smuggling, after increasing Fiscal Police personnel by 25 new officers.

In 2012, the Fiscal Police seized ​​the country’s largest shipments of electronics, with 18,000 products seized, most of them TV sets.