Tax

The court reasoned the strikes have not being peaceful and have affected essential services.

The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court declared on Friday that the tax reform bill is constitutional. The bill will now go back to congress, where enough legislators have announced their support for the bill for it to pass.

For the first time in history, the Costa Rican Colon surpassed 600 colones per dollar. On Wednesday, some banks were reporting an exchange rate of ₡616 for $1.

Representatives from the government and public-sector unions got together Wednesday in a preliminary meeting to seek an agreement to stop the general strike that has gripped the country since Sept. 10.

The President of Costa Rica made an official statement expressing his willingness to establish a dialogue with the unions.

President Carlos Alvarado urged the Catholic Church and university presidents to serve as mediators in talks with the unions that have been protesting a tax-reform bill since Monday.

Costa Rica's Legislative Committee on Financial Affairs approved a bill to reinstate the country’s corporate tax law, which was ruled unconstitutional in 2015.

Officials from Costa Rica’s Social Security System on Tuesday reported the agency will allocate just over ₡3 trillion ($5.5 billion) of its budget for covering public health care expenses and pension payments in 2016.

The measure aims to attract more cruise ships to the area and boost income for the tourism industry in Costa Rica's central Pacific area.

The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, or Sala IV, on Wednesday evening ruled three articles of the country's Corporate Tax Law unconstitutional, and as a result, collection will be suspended starting next year. The tax must be paid this year, however, by this Saturday's deadline.

Members of the legislative appointments commission this week were supposed to issue a list of the three top candidates to lead Costa Rica's Ombdusman's Office. But the announcement of those names was pushed back to Monday because one of the top five applicants was absent.

Legislative Assembly President Henry Mora on Monday evening asked the legislative appointments commission to immediately start the process of selecting candidates for ombudsman following the resignation Monday of Ofelia Taitelbaum.

The Finance Ministry last week launched a public awareness campaign to encourage tourists and citizens to report hotels, restaurants and other businesses that fail to issue receipts for products or services.

The deadline set by the National Registry for 545,000 corporations to pay the Corporate Tax ends next Next Jan. 31.