Various Amnesties (expiration 05-24-2020)

TAX AND CUSTOMS EXEMPTIONS. The benefit of Tax and Customs Amnesty is granted, which has the purpose of exonerating the total or partial payment of fines, surcharges, and interest on tax and customs debt, in accordance with the conditions contained in this Article. The amnesty benefit shall include the following scenarios:

• 1)

  Present, without pecuniary sanction, the formal and material obligations that were pending until November 30, 2019. In those cases in which the declarations presented under this numeral generate liquid amounts of taxes to be paid in favor of the State, the amount of the tax debt shall be determined without the application of pecuniary sanctions for formal and material obligations during the validity of the benefit;

• 2)

  Pay, without pecuniary sanction, the amounts of taxes that were pending payment deriving from self-assessments presented by obligated taxpayers, until November 30, 2019, whether or not these were presented in an untimely manner;

• 3)

  The amnesty benefit shall be granted ex officio and automatically to obligated taxpayers who have filed their determinative declarations in an untimely manner until November 30, 2019, regarding that pending tax debt related to pecuniary sanctions as an accessory sanction, generated by the untimely filing, provided that as of the date of entry into force of this Decree they do not owe the tax accrued in the declaration that originated it;

• 4)

  The amnesty benefit shall be granted ex officio and automatically to obligated taxpayers who have filed their formal obligations in an untimely manner until November 30, 2019, regarding pecuniary sanctions when the fine is the principal matter;

• 5)

  Make corrections to declarations filed until November 30, 2019, without the application of pecuniary sanctions for additional taxes generated by the correction in form and substance;

• 6)

  In cases in which the Tax or Customs Administration has determined taxes to be paid as a result of the exercise of its powers and these have been notified until November 30, 2019, the obligated taxpayer may pay the taxes or fines determined, without the application of pecuniary sanctions derived from non-compliance with their tax obligations, fines or pending sanctions whether these are imposed by institutions of the Central Government including centralized and decentralized entities, including those generated in the course of the determination procedure, regardless of whether the actions are final or not;

• 7)

  In cases of regularized obligated taxpayers, pay without pecuniary sanction, the tax debt generated by tax credits wrongfully enjoyed as a result of the definitive seal granted by the tax regularization benefit. The amnesty benefit contained in this Article does not apply to municipal taxes and their surcharges for delinquency and shall be enjoyed ex officio automatically without the need to submit requests or petitions by the obligated taxpayer to the Tax Administration or Customs Administration, provided that the regulatory assumptions thereof are met.

AMNESTY HONDURAN SOCIAL SECURITY INSTITUTE (IHSS). Extend the effects and validity of the provisions in Decrees No. 112-2016 of August 16, 2016, Decree No. 82-2017 of September 27, 2017, and Article 2 of Decree No. 129-2017 of January 16, 2018, Decree No. 51-2018 of June 7, 2018, and Article 253 of Decree No. 180-2018 of December 13, 2018, relating to authorizing the Honduran Social Security Institute (IHSS) to establish amnesty in the payment of surcharges, fines, and interest on debts originated by the failure to pay employer and worker contributions to said Institute, not remitted by obligated employers in the public and private sectors; for an additional period within the validity of this Decree. The conditions and payment terms in the case of debt documentation may be for a maximum of five (5) years counted from the date of signing the commitment, which shall be determined by the financial condition and nature of the subscribing Company or Institution and in accordance with the regulations established by the Honduran Social Security Institute (IHSS).

TELECOMMUNICATIONS AMNESTY. The amnesty benefit is granted in the telecommunications sector during the period from the entry into force of this Decree, in which telecommunications service operators and other natural or legal persons that maintain pending payment obligations with the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) may: 1) Make payment of fees and charges for the operation of telecommunications owed until November 30, 2019, without sanctions of fines, surcharges, or interest; and, 2) Enter into payment agreements under the amnesty, in accordance with Normative Resolution NR015/14 issued by the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL), provided that payment is made within the validity of this Decree. Natural or legal persons providing telecommunications services without the respective enabling title may regularize their situation by requesting from the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) the issuance of the enabling title or pertinent registration, without incurring the payment of sanctions, rights, supervision fee, and radioelectric canon that should have been paid during the time of irregular operation.

VEHICULAR AMNESTY. The amnesty benefit is granted during the period from the entry into force of this Decree in the following cases:

• 1)

  To obligated taxpayers who are delinquent or who have not complied with their formal and material obligations with the State of Honduras, through the Property Institute (IP), as of November 30, 2019, regarding movable property categorized as vehicles and similar property, which are administered in the Motor Vehicle Property Registry, in charge of the Property Institute (IP), being able to pay the Single Annual Vehicle Registration Fee, vehicle registration fees, including municipal road fees, free of fines and other sanctions, within the validity of this Decree, being able to arrange payment plans during this period, without any type of sanctions;

• 2)

  The Property Institute (IP) is authorized to ex officio and immediately prescribe all pending payment debts related to the Single Annual Vehicle Registration Fee, vehicle registration fees, including municipal road fees, and any type of sanctions, corresponding to Fiscal Period 2015, inclusive, for all movable property categorized as vehicles and similar property, which are administered in the Motor Vehicle Property Registry, in charge of the Property Institute (IP). All vehicles and movable property affected by the authorized prescription that do not make payment of the amounts owed as of November 30, 2019, must be permanently removed from the Motor Vehicle Property Registry. In the event that the owner of any movable property covered by this measure requests to re-register said movable property, the Motor Vehicle Property Registry must proceed accordingly, imposing a sanction equivalent to one (1) average minimum wage in effect and corresponding to the year 2018. For requests made after the year 2018, the sanction equivalent to one (1) average minimum wage in effect shall be made in accordance with the corresponding year;

• 3)

  Until November 30, 2019, natural or legal persons, national or foreign, official or not, who have obtained some tax incentive for the importation of a motor vehicle free from the payment of taxes, under any current legislation that grants tax benefits of that type, must present themselves before the State Secretary in the Office of Finance (SEFIN) to request authorization for the sale of the vehicle or vehicles in question, a resolution that must be granted within a period no greater than five (5) days from the date of the corresponding request. Said resolution must respect the legislation that motivated the issuance of the exemption in the sense of stating whether the authorization for sale is made free of the payment of taxes or whether the authorization for sale is conditioned upon the payment of the corresponding taxes, adjusting to the value of the vehicle the corresponding depreciation, as follows: twenty percent (20%) for the first year and 10% for each subsequent year, without the value of the vehicle for purposes of calculating the taxes to be paid being less than fifteen percent (15%) of the original value thereof, a value that is determined by the State Secretary in the Office of Finance (SEFIN) for its application by the Customs office in which the corresponding Single Customs Declaration is processed.

• 4)

  The above benefit is applicable to any natural or legal person who accredits having an exemption in their favor, including retirees or pensioners who do not live in Honduras, deceased persons, or who have acquired a vehicle affected by an exemption from a third party, regardless of whether the State Secretary in the Office of Finance (SEFIN) keeps a copy of the authorizing file. The authorization resolution for sale shall be the basis for Customs, ex officio, without the need for any procedure or resolution and with the optional intervention of a customs broker, to proceed to calculate the taxes to be paid, exonerating the payment of any type of sanction. After nationalization, the vehicle must be registered or its registration updated with the Motor Vehicle Property Registry, exonerating the payment of the sanctions that correspond; and,

• 5)

  Authorization is granted on an exceptional basis for the validity of this Decree to permit the nationalization and registration of vehicles that entered the country before the approval and entry into force of this Decree, within the framework of the free circulation treaties of the Central American Integration System (SICA) and that have license plates from other countries in the region (Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua) or from any other country, regardless of the vehicle age restriction, provided that they are work vehicles, collector automobiles, and funeral vehicles, whose manufacture as the last year was prior to the year 1996; without prejudice to the Law for Strengthening Income, Social Equity and Rationalization of Public Spending. The same rules of the previous paragraphs in their application for vehicles from the year 1996 backwards making a single payment of Ten Thousand Lempiras (L.10,000.00) and vehicles from the year 1997 through the year 2006 shall pay in accordance with the current tax regime. Their nationalization shall be carried out through a single payment of Ten Thousand Lempiras (L.10,000.00), which includes the 2019 registration and municipal fee, and in subsequent years must pay normally the registration and municipal fee, according to the domicile of their owner.

Interpret Article 5 of Decree No. 112-2017 of September 27, 2017, in the sense that the faculty granted in the referred Article to a Technical Committee also comprises all Technical Committees of the Public-Private Alliance Trusts in which the Property Institute (IP) is or becomes a Settlor or Trustee. Likewise, interpret said Article in the sense that the Property Institute (IP) may request the incorporation into said Trusts of Associated Vehicular Centers, Peripheral Registration Offices, Delegates or Certified Professionals, and any other private law entity auxiliary to the Public Administration, authorized by the Property Institute (IP), as providers of the public services entrusted for the objectives and purposes described in said Article; understanding that when the term "non-profit" is used it must be understood that any charge collected must cover the expenses and costs incurred and an acceptable margin that guarantees sustainability and improvement in the goods and services implemented, provided that this is agreed upon by the parties. Finally, interpret said Article in the sense that when the designation "Associated Centers" is used, it also refers to Peripheral Registration Offices, Delegates or Certified Professionals, and any other private law entity auxiliary to the Public Administration, whether authorized by the Property Institute (IP) in accordance with the Property Law, by mandate of the Council of State Secretaries or by resolution of its Board of Directors, as well as those entities that are authorized by the President of the Republic in Council of State Secretaries, in accordance with Article 22 of the General Law of Public Administration.

Grant Municipal Tax Amnesty to all municipalities in the country up to Ninety (90) days after the publication of this Decree for the payment of interest, fines, and surcharges caused by delinquency that administratively or judicially is accumulated as of November 30, 2019, in the payment of all municipal taxes, fees and surcharges, and any other type of surcharges caused by delinquency; natural or legal persons may remit payment of their taxes free of charges, delinquency interest, and fines during the validity period of this amnesty decree in accordance with what is established therein, the concepts that are owed to the municipalities at the national level for the payment of delinquency by municipal interest, fees and surcharges, accumulated as of November 30, 2019, the Municipality being able to establish payment plans outside the validity period of this Article.

Grant the amnesty benefit in the telecommunications sector for surcharges and interest to the Honduran Telecommunications Company (HONDUTEL) during the period covered by the validity of this Decree, for pending payment obligations before the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL). HONDUTEL, within this amnesty may: Make payment of fees, canons, tariffs, penalties, fines, mandatory contributions, and charges for the operation of telecommunications owed as of November 30, 2019, without sanctions of surcharges and interest; the National Telecommunications Communication (CONATEL) is authorized to enter into a payment agreement and/or arrangement for the concepts included in numeral 1), under the amnesty within the validity of this Decree. The validity and payment terms of the aforementioned payment agreement to be entered shall be established therein, in accordance with the agreements reached between the parties. Similarly, authorization is granted for the consolidation of debts in the sense of unifying the pending payment obligations in HONDUTEL, as well as the compensation of debts between both institutions and assets, which may be considered an integral part of the payment agreements to be entered into. Said compensation must be made within the parameters set forth in the general provisions of the budget and other applicable regulations.

Grant the amnesty benefit of fines, surcharges, and interest, during the period of validity of this Decree, of all pending payment obligations with the National Electric Energy Company (ENEE). Natural and legal persons who wish to benefit from this amnesty must: Make payment of the corresponding values of electrical energy without the application of surcharges, fines, and interest. Enter into payment agreements under the amnesty set forth in this Decree with the validity and terms determined therein. State institutions that enter into payment agreements may make debt compensations, which may be an integral part of the agreement to be entered.

Establish a Tax Amnesty in the charge of fines and surcharges for the non-submission of the Report on Compliance with Environmental Measures (ICMA) that indicates the respective solution of granting an Environmental License issued by the Secretariat of the Environment and that is contemplated in the General Environmental Law and General Regulation, this amnesty is usable by obligated persons in arrears who pay the amounts and surcharges in arrears and present the other delayed reports no later than September 30, 2019, provided that and during the delay of presenting said report or reports there have been no environmental damages produced or having been produced repaired to the satisfaction of the environmental authority. Establish amnesty in the payment of fines and surcharges for the non-submission or untimely submission of the Report on Compliance with Environmental Measures (ICMA) established by the State Secretariat in the Offices of Natural Resources and Environment. The amnesty referred to in the previous paragraph is for those projects in accordance with the categorization table issued by Mi Ambiente that are in Category 1, 2, and 3 with environmental license, excepting high environmental impact projects; category 4, energy generation projects; category 2, 3, and 4 telecommunications, mining, and its category. The amnesty shall not apply if projects of works or activities that are in category 1, 2, and 3 during the delay of the submission of the Compliance Report have produced damages to the environment and natural resources. This amnesty is applicable for those projects on activities that have the non-resolution on the Report on Compliance with Measures (ICMA) that are subject to fines upon entry into force of this Decree provided that they present to Mi Ambiente the corresponding ICMA.

This Decree shall be in effect for 90 days from the day of its publication in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta". Given in the city of Tegucigalpa, municipality of the Central District, in the Session Hall of the National Congress, on the twelfth day of the month of December of two thousand nineteen. ANTONIO CÉSAR RIVERA CALLEJAS PRESIDENT JOSÉ TOMÁS ZAMBRANO MOLINA SECRETARY ROSSEL RENÁN INESTROZA MARTINEZ SECRETARY To the Executive Power Therefore: Execute. Tegucigalpa, M.D.C., December 27, 2019. JUAN ORLANDO HERNÁNDEZ ALVARADO PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC THE STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICE OF FINANCE