Costa Rica

This report presents the estimates of tax gaps for general sales tax (GST) and corporate income tax (CIT) in Costa Rica by applying the methodology of the IMF’s RA-GAP (Revenue Administration – Gap Analysis Program). Main findings for GST gap The RA-GAP GST gap methodology was used to estimate the compliance gap and the policy gap for the general sales tax (GST) in Costa Rica for the years from 2012 to 2016. Potential GST revenue under current policy is referred to here as PVC; the difference between PVC and net accrued collections is defined as the compliance gap. The difference between potential revenue under a theoretical GST structure applying the standard rate to all final consumption without any exemptions (referred to as PVR) and PVC is called the policy gap (Figure 1).