Siquirres will charge a 30% sales tax on mining

The Municipality of Siquirres will begin charging a tax equivalent to 30% of the monthly amount that concessionaires pay as sales tax on sand, stone, ballast, and their derivatives extracted from public domain riverbeds, quarries, washing plants, and placer deposits within the canton. The Municipal Council approved the “Regulation for the collection of the tax on the exploitation of mining resources in the canton of Siquirres and exploitation patents for concessions in quarries, public domain riverbeds, washing plants, and placer deposits,” published in La Gaceta No. 215 on Thursday, November 12, 2026, pages 101 to 104, with the official reference IN202601138423. The regulation is effective as of its publication in the Official Gazette.

The text is based on articles 38, 40, 49, and 55 of the Mining Code, Law No. 6797, the Code of Tax Norms and Procedures, Law No. 4755, and articles 3 and 4 of Law No. 7794, the Municipal Code, which empowers local governments to issue their own regulations. The Municipality justified the measure based on the need to “provide an updated regulatory framework” for the collection of the tax and mining patents.

Taxpayers shall be natural or legal persons, de facto or de jure, public or private, engaged in the extraction, exploitation, and commercialization of sand, stone, ballast, and derivatives in public domain riverbeds, quarries, placer deposits, or washing plants, provided they hold a municipal license and the respective exploitation concession from the Directorate of Geology and Mines of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE). The tax is determined by a sworn declaration from the taxpayer or, failing that, ex officio by the municipal tax administration, based on certain or presumed data.

Differentiated rates according to the type of deposit

The regulation establishes a collection scheme that varies according to the material and the method of exploitation:

30% of the monthly sales tax for public domain riverbeds and quarries.
¢100.00 per cubic meter extracted when there is no sale because the material is intended for the concessionaire’s own industrial purposes in public domain riverbeds.
¢40.00 per cubic meter extracted in the equivalent case for quarries; both amounts will be updated annually according to the consumer price index of the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC).
15% of the sales tax for concessionaires of placer deposits and washing plants.
50% of the tax to the other municipality when the concession is located on a cantonal boundary, without this preventing Siquirres from collecting the half that corresponds to it if the other local government does not exercise its collection.

Quarterly payment, interest, and closure of facilities

The tax is paid per expired quarter, exclusively at municipal collection offices or through authorized agents. The concessionaire must present the form and a copy of their sales tax returns within the first ten calendar days of March, June, September, and December, and settle the payment within the fifteen calendar days of those same months, following the payment to the Ministry of Finance.

Delinquency generates interest calculated at the rate of article 57 of the Code of Tax Norms and Procedures, which can only be waived if administrative error is proven. Debts constitute a preferential legal mortgage on the properties, pursuant to article 79 of the Municipal Code.

Regarding sanctions, the regulation provides:

Suspension of the license for delays of two or more quarters, with the consequent closure of the facilities.
A fine of three base salaries for the concessionaire who continues to operate with a suspended license.
Immediate closure for lack of license, expiration of the concession term, expiration or revocation of operating permits, and non-payment of two or more quarters.

License, requirements, and procedure

The Licensing and Permits Sub-process shall be the competent body to process and resolve these requests within a period of ten business days. Requirements include a copy of the concession resolution published in La Gaceta, the map of the conceded area, the operating permit from the Ministry of Health, the environmental viability from the National Environmental Technical Secretariat (SETENA), the occupational risk insurance policy from the National Insurance Institute (INS), and being up to date with municipal obligations. Denial resolutions are subject to a motion for reconsideration with an appeal within a five-day term, according to article 170 of the Municipal Code.

The regulation was signed by Dinorah Cubillo Ortiz, secretary of the Municipal Council, and repeals any municipal regulatory provision that opposes it.

The change directly affects concessionaires operating open-pit mines, riverbeds, and quarries in the canton, who must adjust their cash flow to a quarterly payment linked to the sales tax and face the closure of operations if they accumulate two unpaid quarters. For the Municipality, the norm converts a tax power already provided for in the Mining Code into a procedure with specific deadlines, forms, and sanctions.

Source: La Gaceta No. 215, Thursday, November 12, 2026, Regulations, pp. 101-104 (official reference: IN202601138423).