Tax Responsibility

The Ministry of Finance and the University of Costa Rica (UCR), in collaboration with the FIIAPP, has inaugurated the first Tax Assistance Centre (NAF) the purpose of which is to provide free tax assistance to low-income taxpayers, both legal and natural persons, to facilitate compliance with tax obligations.
The inauguration of the NAFs makes Costa Rica the first country in Central America to implement this initiative and the second country in Latin America, after Brazil, which promotes these tax assistance centres in the region through the Receita Federal, which is being implemented in other countries through the EUROsociAL Programme.

The NAFs are offices that provide consultancy services on basic tax concepts, where students with advanced levels of accounting and business administration provide tax assistance services to taxpayers as part of a communal university project or support hours.

“These centres provide a link between the Tax Administration, the university and the public, as part of the social responsibility commitment of higher education centres to the community, and our goal of assisting taxpayers to facilitate compliance with their tax obligations. This makes support available to lower income taxpayers who, for one reason or another, do not go to the Administration to regulate their situation,” explained Billie Brenes, Director of Taxpayer Services.

This project also allows students to gain a basic knowledge of the tax system and legislation by applying it to real cases, as well as increasing their awareness of the importance of taxes in society.