Access to Banking Information by the Tax Administration in Honduras

Abstract

Current Honduran law forbids Tax Administration to have direct access of banking information regarding tax payers. These is because Tax Authorities doesn’t have the faculty to ask information directly to the financial institutions, it has to be made through the National Commission of Banking and Insurance (from now on, CNBS).

Within the tax authority’s attributions is to guarantee the collection, through the creation of administrative management plans and programs in accordance with the guidelines of the economic policy and agreed annual collection goals, as well as to operate agile procedures and systems and simplified, to facilitate voluntary compliance with tax obligations; and implement and operate the expedited processing of tax or customs operations, formal or material.

Therefore, the state authority that collects taxes, Servicio de Administración de Rentas (SAR), has to have access to third parties’ collaboration in order to apply expeditious procedures that will help detect, in a proper manner, tax evasion cases, that could be covering up more serious crimes like illicit enrichment, money laundering and/or financing of illegal or terrorist activities.