Decree 51-2018

TAX AND CUSTOMS AMNESTY.- The benefit of tax and customs amnesty is granted in accordance with the conditions contained in the following paragraphs:

• 1)

  TAX AMNESTY: During the validity of this Decree, taxpayers may:

  • a)

    Present without administrative penalty for late fulfillment of the obligation, declarations, make formal notifications of any kind and tax and customs statements and manifests and transits in the cases of companies subject to suspensive and/or liberatory regimes, that have been omitted by taxpayers, regarding obligations and payments that should have been made before December 31, 2017, regarding tax or customs obligations for the fiscal periods in domestic taxes corresponding to the years 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017; and fiscal periods in customs taxes corresponding to the years 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017;

  • b)

    Make corrections to declarations whether tax or customs, including manifests, transits and any type of customs documents, that taxpayers had presented before December 31, 2017 with errors and whether or not they were obligated to present them;

  • c)

    Pay when applicable the amount of taxes related to the declarations referred to in paragraphs a) and b) above, without fines, surcharges or interest;

  • d)

    In the case of Official Assessments or Additional Tax determined by Official action to declarations presented by taxpayers on December 31, 2017 and that are not final, the amnesty benefit shall consist of payment of the taxes determined and/or confirmed, without fines, interest or surcharges. The Tax or Customs Administrations shall mandatorily make the corresponding adjustments in their systems to record the aforementioned payments;

  • e)

    Pay tax and customs debts that are final and pending payment on December 31, 2017, without any sanctions, whether or not covered by payment plans;

  • f)

    This amnesty benefit shall be granted automatically to taxpayers who have filed their declarations or statements late, regardless of the period, before December 31, 2017, regarding the tax or customs debt relating to fines, surcharges or interest for late filing, as applicable, as an accessory sanction and who do not owe the tax assessed in the declaration that originated it;

  • g)

    The amnesty benefit is applicable to Sales Tax in the assumptions of the preceding paragraph. The amnesty benefit is applicable regarding Sales Tax, except for Sales Tax originated from the sale of goods and services that has been collected by the responsible parties and not remitted to the Treasury; and, h) The amnesty benefit contained in any of the paragraphs of this section shall be enjoyed automatically and without the need to submit applications or requests to the Tax Administration and/or the Customs Administration; for which reason these must mandatorily make adjustments in their systems to ensure faithful compliance with the provisions of this Decree.

• 2)

  TAX REGULARIZATION: During the period from the validity of this Decree:

  • a)

    Taxpayers who are not in default in fulfilling their material obligations with the Treasury, whether by payment or by subscription to a payment plan and who have current filings of their declarations with the Tax Administration and/or the Customs Administration; regardless of whether or not they have been subject to tax and/or customs audits, as well as the status of the audit process, whether the results of these processes are notified or not notified or maintain administrative or judicial remedies regarding obligations not accepted and that are not final, liquid and demandable; during any of the annual or monthly fiscal periods corresponding to the years 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016, may avail themselves of the benefit of tax and customs regularization with final settlement or definitive seal for all the fiscal periods described above, regardless of the year in which they began, suspended or closed their operations, and must make a single payment of one point five percent (1.5%) on gross income obtained according to the Sworn Declaration of Income Tax. For this purpose, the highest amount reported in any of these periods shall be taken as the basis;

  • b)

    Taxpayers may determine to regularize their situation regarding their administrative or judicial actions in progress, that are prior to the year 2013, even if they result in subsequent judicial actions, by paying an amount equal to one point five percent (1.5%) calculated on the amount of the action to be regularized;

  • c)

    For taxpayers who have temporarily or permanently ceased their operations before December 31, 2017, regardless of whether or not they have notified the Tax Administration and/or the Customs Administration, may notify it without incurring the payment of sanctions; and those who notified it outside the legal period shall be exempt from payment of the corresponding sanction. Likewise, and without need to await any ruling regarding the temporary or permanent cessation of their operations or in the event they have obtained some ruling in that regard, they may opt for the benefit of tax and customs regularization with final settlement or definitive seal that shall comprise the fiscal periods of the immediate year and all years prior to the temporary or permanent cessation of their operations, and must make a single payment of one point five percent (1.5%) on gross income obtained according to the Sworn Declaration of Income Tax. For this purpose, the highest amount reported in any of the five (5) annual periods immediately before and prior to the year in which the taxpayer temporarily or permanently ceased its operations shall be taken as the basis and for calculation, regardless of whether the basis for calculation are prescribed years or not. In the case that taxpayers had operations for less than five (5) years, the reference and calculation basis shall be the last year or years of operations, provided that it does not exceed five (5) years;

  • d)

    In the case of taxpayers who filed tax and/or customs declarations that did not generate any income, they may opt for the benefit of tax and customs regularization with final settlement or definitive seal, and must make a single payment of one point five percent (1.5%) on the subscribed and paid-in capital;

  • e)

    To obtain the final settlement and definitive seal related in this section, it shall be done separately before the Tax Administration and the Customs Administration and the amount collected from the single payment of one point five percent (1.5%) referred to in the previous paragraph shall be recognized as revenue in equal parts for both Administrations. The processing shall consist only of the submission of a request for issuance of final settlement and definitive seal, to which must be attached the Official Payment Receipt (ROP) of the Tax Administration, corresponding to the single payment of one point five percent (1.5%) on gross income obtained according to the Sworn Declaration of Income Tax, in the parameters indicated in the previous paragraphs. The Tax Administration and the Customs Administration, without need of requirements, except for the fulfillment of requirements contained in this Decree; nor opinions, technical or legal advice, shall issue the administrative resolution containing the final settlement and definitive seal, which shall be comprehensive, considering all material and formal obligations of the taxpayer fulfilled, and shall be exempt from all administrative, civil and criminal liability for the acts and facts related to the tax and customs amnesty and regularization, as well as regarding all taxes administered and collected by both the Tax Administration and the Customs Administration for the fiscal periods aforementioned in the periods and taxes subject to regularization; In the event that the taxpayer has not filed any declaration in customs matters, the Tax Administration shall proceed to grant the final settlement and definitive seal without further formality, making mention of such circumstance;

  • f)

    Those taxpayers who are in default or who have not subscribed to a payment plan may not avail themselves of this benefit. Taxpayers who have amounts pending payment to the Treasury, prior to availing themselves of the benefit established in this section, must pay the amounts owed that are final, liquid and demandable;

  • g)

    Taxpayers included in this section shall not be subject to audit, verification, investigation and subsequent collection for the periods indicated; likewise, the Tax Administration and the Customs Administration must indicate such circumstance in their systems, in such a way that regularized taxpayers are not incorporated into audit and control plans related to the fiscal periods contained in this tax and customs regularization;

  • h)

    To avail themselves of the benefit of tax and customs regularization, insurance institutions must make the single payment of one point five percent (1.5%) calculated on the year in which they obtained the highest income from net premiums minus cancellations and refunds, plus financial income and commissions from reinsurance ceded, and must calculate such value only on income obtained in those concepts; and, i) Taxpayers who wish to avail themselves of the benefit of tax and customs regularization contained in this section, regarding non-prescribed annual fiscal periods from 2013 to 2016, must file and pay the Sworn Declaration of Income Tax corresponding to Fiscal Year 2017, through any of the modalities contained in Article 134, paragraphs 1) and 2) of the Tax Code, prior to requesting the aforementioned benefit.

• 3)

  Taxpayers availing themselves of the Tax Regularization benefit contained in this Decree that have a definitive seal for the regularized fiscal years shall mean that the periods shall be understood as closed, therefore, all rights and obligations arising from such periods shall be considered satisfied, and the taxpayer may not enjoy tax credit nor may the Tax and Customs Administration perform audit, verification, investigation or collection activities for the enforcement of obligations subject to regularization.

• 4)

  The Tax Administration and the Customs Administration are authorized, within the framework of their powers and competencies, to enter into payment agreements or arrangements, as follows:

  • a)

    Without payment of fines, interest and surcharges, with taxpayers who have pending payment obligations in the administrative or judicial process on December 31, 2016;

  • b)

    Without payment of fines and interest, with taxpayers who have pending payment obligations in the administrative or judicial process corresponding to Fiscal Period 2017, until December 31, 2017. In this case, as in the preceding paragraph, with the limitation that such payment agreements or arrangements shall be effective until the deadline established for the validity of this Decree;

  • c)

    Taxpayers shall pay the premium in accordance with Article 140 of the Tax Code, provided that the entire tax debt is paid no later than within the validity of this Decree;

  • d)

    In cases where the payment agreement is related to the single payment of one point five percent (1.5%), related in the previous sections, the agreement shall be subscribed only with the Tax Administration and the final settlement and definitive seal shall not be issued until the entire payment has been completed; and, e) Payments made to the Treasury shall be made through authorized banking institutions, using the Official Payment Receipt (ROP) and the corresponding Customs Payment Receipt (RAP), except when it is made at the time of presentation of some Declaration. In the case of payment of one point five percent (1.5%) on gross income referred to in section 2) of this Article, it shall be made using the Official Payment Receipt (ROP) issued by the Tax Administration.

• 5)

  Those taxpayers who have non-prescribed tax credits in their favor that are final, derived from taxes administered by the Tax Administration or the Customs Administration, or authorized by the State Secretary in the Office of Finance, may use them to pay in full or in part the one point five percent (1.5%), or the payment agreements established in sections 2) and 4) above. To make payment through a tax credit, written notification must be made to the Tax Administration, and a certified copy of the resolution granting the tax credit must be attached, without the need to issue a new tax credit resolution on the part of the Administration. In the event that the tax credit used to make the single payment described in section 2 of this Article is greater than that, the Tax Administration or as the case may be the Customs Administration, shall immediately issue a new resolution for the available balance of the tax credit and shall make adjustments in the current account of the taxpayer. Any of the procedures detailed in this section must be carried out in a simple and summary manner, without the need for the issuance of technical and legal opinions, findings or requirements; and administrative acts must be issued to resolve what has been requested and communicated.

• 6)

  Taxpayers who request from the Tax Administration and/or Customs Administration the benefit of tax and customs regularization with final settlement or definitive seal and who maintain requests for credit notes and/or tax refunds in progress whether before these Administrations or before the State Secretary in the Office of Finance, regardless of the administrative or judicial body, shall have their requests kept indefinitely in abeyance while the Tax Administration, the Customs Administration and/or the State Secretary in the Office of Finance or the respective judicial body definitively and with finality resolve the requests for credit notes and corresponding refunds.

• 7)

  The Tax Administration and/or the Customs Administration may not refuse to receive or base their denial of requests or petitions for tax and customs regularization on the grounds of lack of requirements, omissions of documents that are in their own records and files, absence of tax or customs operations or requirements for documents and information beyond those described in this Decree.

• 8)

  Except in cases where the single payment described in section 2) above is made through payment agreements, the only reason to deny a request for tax and customs regularization is the failure to pay the single payment of one point five percent (1.5%).

The Tax Administration or the Customs Administration, verifying compliance with the other requirements, must grant the benefit of tax or customs regularization to taxpayers who made the payment using receipt TGR-1, during the validity of Decree No. 93-2017 dated September 27, 2017.

IHSS AMNESTY.- Expand the effects and validity of the provisions contained in Decrees No. 112-2016 of August 16, 2016, No. 82-2017 of September 27, 2017 and Article 2 of Decree No. 129-2017, published in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta" on May 2, 2018, for an additional period during the validity of this Decree.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS AMNESTY.- The benefit of amnesty is granted in the telecommunications sector during the period from the validity of this Decree, in which telecommunications service operators and other natural or legal persons who maintain pending payment obligations with the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) may: 1) Make payment of the rates and charges for telecommunications operation owed on December 31, 2017, 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 relevant registration, without incurring payment of sanctions, fees, supervision tariff and radioelectric fee that should have been paid during the time of irregular operation.

VEHICLE AMNESTY.- The benefit of amnesty is granted during the period from the validity of this Decree:

• 1)

  To taxpayers who are in default or who have not complied with their formal and material obligations with the State of Honduras, through the Property Institute (IP) and with the Municipalities, on December 31, 2017, regarding movable property categorized as vehicles and similar, which are managed in the Vehicle Property Registry, under the charge of the Property Institute (IP), being able to pay the Unique Annual Vehicle Registration Fee, vehicle registry fees, including municipal road fees, free of fines and other types of 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 prescribe ex officio and immediately all pending payment debts related to the Unique Annual Vehicle Registration Fee, vehicle registry fees, including municipal road fees and any type of sanctions, corresponding to Fiscal Period 2014, inclusive, for all movable property categorized as vehicles and similar, which are managed in the Vehicle Property Registry, under the 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 by May 31, 2018, must be permanently deregistered from the Vehicle Property Registry. In the event that the owner of any of the movable property covered by this measure requests to re-register said movable property, the Vehicle Property Registry must proceed accordingly, imposing a sanction equivalent to one (1) average minimum wage in effect and corresponding to the year 2017. For requests made after the year 2017, the sanction equivalent to one (1) average minimum wage in effect shall be made according to the year that applies.

• 3)

  Until December 31, 2018, 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 payment of taxes, under any current or non-current legislation that grants tax benefits of that kind, must present themselves before the State Secretary in the Office of Finance to request authorization for the sale of the vehicle or vehicles in question, a resolution that must be granted within a period not exceeding five (5) days from the date of the corresponding request. Such 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 tax payment or whether the authorization for sale is conditioned to 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 ten percent (10%) for each subsequent year, provided that the value of the vehicle for purposes of calculating the taxes to be paid is not less than fifteen percent (15%) of its original value, a value that shall be determined by the State Secretary in the Office of Finance for its application by the Customs office in which the corresponding Single Customs Declaration is processed.

• 4)

  The aforementioned benefit is applicable to any natural or legal person who accredits having an exemption in their favor, including annuitants 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 keeps or does not keep a copy of the authorizing file. The authorization for sale resolution shall be the basis for the Customs office ex officio, without the need for any proceeding or resolution and with the optional intervention of a customs agent, to proceed to calculate the taxes to be paid, exempting payment of any type of sanction. After nationalization, the vehicle must be registered or updated in its registration with the Vehicle Property Registry, exempting payment of the sanctions that correspond.

• 5)

  Authorization is granted with exceptional character for the validity of this decree, to allow the nationalization and registration of vehicles that entered the country before the approval and validity 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 restriction on the age of the vehicle, provided that they are vehicles whose last year of manufacture was 1995, work vehicles; without prejudice to the Law of Strengthening Revenue, Social Equity and Rationalization of Public Spending. Its nationalization shall be carried out through a single payment of Ten Thousand Lempiras (L.10,000.00), which includes the 2018 registration and municipal fee, and in the following years they must pay the registration and municipal fee normally, according to the address of their owner.

AMNESTY AND FORGIVENESS FOR CUSTOMERS OF THE NATIONAL ELECTRIC ENERGY COMPANY (ENEE). Customers of the National Electric Energy Company (ENEE) may pay their obligations for electrical energy service consumed, exempt from interest, fines and other charges, being able to enter into payment arrangements with the National Electric Energy Company (ENEE), for a period of up to three (3) years and the fee to be charged may not exceed twenty percent (20%) of the total amount owed. Grant total forgiveness of principal, interest, fines and other charges to customers of the residential sector who have an irregular situation or default greater than four (4) months, counting as the date of last billing July 31, 2018 and whose consumption does not exceed an average monthly consumption of 750 Kwh. To access the benefit described in the previous paragraph, the customer of the National Electric Energy Company (ENEE) must allow the installation of a pre-paid meter for consumption by the company responsible.

Interpret Article 5 of Decree No. 112-2017 of September 27, 2017, in the sense that the power granted in the aforementioned Article to a Technical Committee also comprises all Technical Committees of Public-Private Partnership Trusts in which the Property Institute (IP) is or shall be Trustor or Trustee. Likewise, interpret said Article in the sense that the Property Institute (IP) may request the incorporation into said Trusts of Associated Vehicle Centers, Peripheral Registry Offices, Delegates or Certified Professionals and any other private law organism auxiliary to the Public Administration, authorized by the Property Institute (IP), as providers of the fiduciary public services for the objectives and purposes described in said Article; understanding that when referring to the term "non-profit" it must be understood that any collection that is made must cover the expenses and costs incurred and an acceptable margin that guarantees sustainability and improvement in the goods and services implemented, provided that it is agreed by the parties. Finally, interpret said Article in the sense that when the designation "Associated Centers" is used, it also refers to Peripheral Registry Offices, Delegates or Certified Professionals and any other private law organism auxiliary to the Public Administration, whether authorized by the Property Institute (IP) according to the Property Law, by mandate of the Council of State Secretaries or by resolution of its Board of Directors, as well as those organisms 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 Amnesty for six (6) months counted from the publication of this Decree, to companies in the non-traditional product export sector for payment of fines and interest derived from administrative sanctions imposed for late repatriation of foreign currency from their exports until May 30 of the present year, in application of Article 8 of the Law on Income of Foreign Currency from Exports, contained in Decree No. 108-90 and Article 37 of the Law on Financial Balance and Social Protection, contained in Decree No. 194-2002 dated May 15, 2002. The amnesty shall become effective once the repatriation of foreign currency is evidenced within the period established by this Decree, amnesty is not applied in the case of related party exports. The amnesty must be applied to the balances of interest and fines that the companies registered in the Offices of the Central Bank of Honduras (BCH) have until the validity of this Decree, which ends six (6) months counted from its publication in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta". The amnesty applied in the terms of this Decree shall be without prejudice to the civil, administrative and criminal actions that may be applied.

Forgive retirees and pensioners of any Pension Fund of the country from payment of principal, interest, fines, surcharges and any other civil and administrative responsibility derived from the exercise of a position or employment in the public administration while enjoying their retirement or pension.

AMNESTY AND FORGIVENESS FOR CUSTOMERS OF THE NATIONAL AUTONOMOUS SERVICE OF AQUEDUCTS AND SEWERS (SANAA). Subscribers of the National Autonomous Service of Aqueducts and Sewers (SANAA) may pay their obligations for water service consumed, exempt from interest, fines and other charges owed on December 31, 2017.

This present Decree shall have a term of sixty (60) business days from the day of its publication in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta", with the exception of Article 9 of this Decree, whose term is six (6) months from the day of its publication. Given in the city of Tegucigalpa, municipality of the Central District, in the Session Hall of the National Congress, on the seventh day of the month of June of the year two thousand eighteen. ANTONIO CÉSAR RIVERA CALLEJAS PRESIDENT JOSÉ TOMÁS ZAMBRANO MOLINA SECRETARY ROSSEL RENÁN INESTROZA MARTÍNEZ SECRETARY To the Executive Power Therefore: Let it be executed. Tegucigalpa, M.D.C., of 2018. JUAN ORLANDO HERNÁNDEZ ALVARADO PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC THE STATE SECRETARY IN THE FINANCE OFFICE.

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