Costa Rica issued a three-month moratorium on paying penalties related to value-added taxes, KPMG said in a July 11 post and report. The moratorium, issued in the country’s Official Gazette on July 10, applies to “penalties, interest, fines” and other “sanctions” in the country’s Code of Norms and Tax Procedures, KPMG said, but excludes “large taxpayers.” The moratorium does not exempt taxpayers from “submitting the tax returns, the tax payment, or the payment of the principal amount adjusted by the Tax Administration,” KPMG said.
Costa Rica’s General Tax Administration published a resolution clarifying which export-related services are exempt from value-added taxes, according to a July 5 post and report from KPMG. The recently published resolution said “port and airport services,” including transportation services for “goods destined for export to ports, airports and land borders” are part of the “exempt operations related to exports,” KPMG said.
There's a high volume of transaction numbers with an overdue status, the Canada Border Services Agency said in a July 15 email. "This indicates that some clients with release prior to payment privileges have submitted an interim accounting to obtain release of their goods but have not submitted the final accounting B3 nor submitted payment to CBSA," it said. Importers are responsible to ensure the final accounting documentation is provided, CBSA said. "Importers that do not account for overdue releases are deemed non-compliant and will be assessed duties, taxes, interest and penalties, and may also be subject to exam and/or verification," it said.
Legislation aimed an increasing Canada's ability to use safeguard measures to limit import surges "recently cleared the House of Commons and the Senate, and received Royal Assent," said Daniel Kiselbach, a lawyer at Miller Thomson, in a blog post. "The provisions in the enactment lift a two-year moratorium on the imposition of safeguard measures on imports that have previously been subject to safeguard measures," he said. Part of a recent agreement between the U.S. and Canada that led to to lifting of tariffs on steel and aluminum was that the countries may impose tariffs in response to import surges of the metals (see 1905170031).
Honey importers are required to meet regulatory requirements, such as prohibitions on the "addition of foreign sugars to a food represented as honey," the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in a July 9 notice. "CFIA has a variety of control and enforcement measures at its disposition, including product detention, disposal, order to remove from Canada, and prosecution," the agency said. "Enforcement actions in cases of non-compliance take into consideration the harm caused by the non-compliance, the compliance history of the regulated party, and whether there was intent to violate federal requirements."
The Canada Border Services Agency will be ending its use of the paper reporting process Export Declaration form (B13A) and require mandatory electronic reporting, the agency said in a July 8 customs notice. CBSA will stop accepting the from as of June 30, 2020, and will require the information through either the Canadian Export Reporting System or the G7 Export Reporting Electronic Data Interchange. The CERS will be available in March of 2020 and will replace the Canadian Automated Export Declaration (CAED) system. "CERS is a web-based, self-service portal enabling exporters to submit electronic declarations (including bulk upload and summary reporting), to the CBSA," the agency said.