This document has been provided by the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL).

Transcription

1 This document has been provided by the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL). ICNL is the leading source for information on the legal environment for civil society and public participation. Since 1992, ICNL has served as a resource to civil society leaders, government officials, and the donor community in over 90 countries. Visit ICNL s Online Library at for further resources and research from countries all over the world. Disclaimers Content. The information provided herein is for general informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended and should not be construed to constitute legal advice. The information contained herein may not be applicable in all situations and may not, after the date of its presentation, even reflect the most current authority. Nothing contained herein should be relied or acted upon without the benefit of legal advice based upon the particular facts and circumstances presented, and nothing herein should be construed otherwise. Translations. Translations by ICNL of any materials into other languages are intended solely as a convenience. Translation accuracy is not guaranteed nor implied. If any questions arise related to the accuracy of a translation, please refer to the original language official version of the document. Any discrepancies or differences created in the translation are not binding and have no legal effect for compliance or enforcement purposes. Warranty and Limitation of Liability. Although ICNL uses reasonable efforts to include accurate and up-to-date information herein, ICNL makes no warranties or representations of any kind as to its accuracy, currency or completeness. You agree that access to and use of this document and the content thereof is at your own risk. ICNL disclaims all warranties of any kind, express or implied. Neither ICNL nor any party involved in creating, producing or delivering this document shall be liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of access to, use of or inability to use this document, or any errors or omissions in the content thereof.

2 Tax Code 1995 National Congress of Honduras Tax Code Law Article 1. This Code governs the use, receipt and administration of all taxes of the Republic of Honduras and all legal transactions that arise from them. The laws of both this Title and Book 1 will be applied as supplemental provisions to all other matters governed by municipal and customs legislation, as well as to provisional legal obligations, social security taxes, obligatory contributions related to the exercise of a profession or employment, special funds and any other charges established to the benefit of Public Law legal entities. Article 2. All acts, relations, deeds and transactions carried out or perfected abroad, whose economic source originates in the Republic of Honduras or that due to their nature, shall have an economic effect on its inhabitants or on their capital, are also subject to the provisions of this Code as long as they are either included in a class of taxable events or a class that generate taxes. Article 3. Notwithstanding the normative hierarchy established by the General Law of Public Administration, the order of precedence of tax laws is as follows: 1. The provisions of this Code; 2. The precepts contained in tax laws; and 3. The regulations promulgated by the Executive Branch. Article 4. In accordance with the stipulations of the previous article, the following are the sources of tax law: 1. Constitutional provisions; 2. International treaties and conventions; 3. Laws enacted by the National Congress; and 4. Regulations promulgated by the Executive Branch. Internal and executive orders, and proceedings enacted by administrative agencies are not of an obligatory nature for taxpayers or other responsible parties. Article 5. The following are the sole province of tax law and therefore are not subject to rulemaking power: 1. The creation, modification or elimination of taxes, the definition of taxable events and those that generate tax liabilities, the setting of the taxable base and tax rate and the definition of the parties subject to direct or indirect taxes; 2. The granting of exemptions, deductions, exonerations, donations or any type of fiscal benefit;

3 3. The levying of secondary tax obligations, the categorization of unlawful acts and the establishment of tax penalties; 4. The establishment of procedures to ensure constitutional guarantees and rights; 5. The determination of privileges or preferences and the general guarantees for tax credits; and 6. The regulation of means for the termination of tax credits. Article 6. In the interpretation of the provisions of this Code, the mandate and economic significance of such provisions and the norms of the Honduran Public Law shall be considered. It shall only be possible to refer to the norms, concepts and terms of Private Law if it is not possible to establish the meaning and scope of the norms, concepts and terms of the aforementioned provisions by their spirit and letter. Article 7. Tax laws are of public order. The public treasury does not oppose agreements made between taxpayers and other responsible parties regarding the economic obligations or the transfer of taxes, except as provided and to the extent and effect that the tax law determines. Article 8. Tax laws shall not have retroactive effects. Notwithstanding this provision, the effect of any acts, relations, deeds or transactions carried out or perfected prior to the date these tax laws went into effect, but continuing after that date, may be affected or modified by such laws. The rights permanently incorporated in the property of taxpayers and other responsible parties under the legislation in force at the moment of perfection of the acts, deeds, transactions or relations that originated them, shall not be extinguished by a tax law subsequent to their institution and incorporation in these properties. When the date of effect of the law is prior to that of the general expiration of a tax, legal provisions shall not be considered retroactive if they affect the existence or the amount of a tax obligation regarding liens determined or paid in a given fiscal year or period. Article 9. Everything relating to the calculation of the terms, business and nonworking days, and the arrangement of the days and time for the practice of fiscal procedures are regulated according to that which is established by the Law of Administrative Procedures. Article 10. Assessments are monetary provisions that the State, while exercising its power imperium, requires for the purpose of obtaining resources to fulfill its mandate. Article 11. Assessments include taxes, fees and special contributions. Article 12. A tax is an assessment whose obligation as a taxable event is an independent transaction from all State activity related to the taxpayer. Article 13. A fee is an assessment whose obligation as a taxable event has the potential of an effective payment of an individualized public service rendered to the taxpayer. Its revenue shall not have a different allocation other than to the service that constitutes the source of that obligation. A payment received from a taxpayer in return for services not inherent to State activity shall not be considered a fee. Article 14. A special contribution is an assessment whose obligation as a taxable event has benefits derived from the execution of public works or State activities, and whose revenue shall not have a different purpose other than for the funding of the works or the activities that constitute the budget of that obligation.

4 A contribution for improvement is one that is instituted to finance public works and that produces real estate revenues, has an inherent total limit of expenditures incurred and has as an individual limit the increase in the value of the real estate affected. A contribution to social security is the payment received from both employers and workers that belong to the beneficiary groups and which are allocated to the financing of social security services. Article 15. The legal tax relationship between the State and a taxed subject results when an event taxable by law occurs, thereby constituting a correlation of personal nature, even if the transaction is secured by collateral or a fiduciary guarantee on property. Taxable obligations belong to Public Law and they may be compelled by the State. Special laws determine the competent authority for the application of this Code with respect to the assessments whose collection is the responsibility of the Executive Branch. Article 16. The State or public entity appointed by law is the obligating authority and therefore, the creditor of the tax obligation. Article 17. The plenary power that this Code or special law confers to the authority in charge of their execution is exclusive and supersedes that of all other authorities. The administrative jurisdiction of this Code and the law that confer this authority is inherent and non-delegable. The tax authority shall be specifically competent in tax matters and administrative bodies with superior authority will not engage in the resolution of such tax matters. Article 18. The obligor is the person obligated to fulfill tax payments as the sole taxpayer or as a jointly liable or substitute responsible party. Article 19. Jointly liable parties are persons who share a verifiable taxable event or a tax obligation. In the remainder of the cases, joint and several liability shall be expressly established by law. The effects of the joint and several liability are: 1. The obligation shall be compelled totally or partially to any of the debtors, as chosen by the obligator; 2. Payments made by one of the debtors discharge the obligations of the remaining debtors; 3. The fulfillment of a formal obligation by one of the obligors does not discharge the remaining debtors when it is beneficial to the obligator that the remaining debtors also fulfill the obligation; 4. The exemption or pardon of a debt discharges all the debtors, except when the benefit has been granted to a specific person. In this case, the obligator shall compel the fulfillment of the obligation by the remaining debtors and shall deduct the proportional part of this benefit; 5. Any suspension of the statute of limitations in favor or against one of the debtors, affects all the debtors; and 6. In private interactions between taxpayers and other responsible parties, the obligations are divided between them. Whoever makes a payment may claim the total or proportional corresponding share from the remaining debtors. If any remaining debtors are insolvent, their share shall be distributed in a prorated manner among the other debtors.

5 Article 20. Tax payers are natural persons or corporate entities that due to the performance of a taxable event, shall incur a tax obligation according to the corresponding laws as follows: 1. Natural persons, competent or incompetent, according to Private Law; 2. Corporate entities, civil and commercial partnerships, cooperatives, associative enterprises, associations and entities to which Private or Public Law recognizes as legal persons; 3. Partnerships, associations, entities and enterprises that do not have the competences established in the previous Article, and properties destined to a specific end, when the former and the latter are considered by tax laws as economic units in order to determine a taxable event; and 4. When the tax law considers them subject to a taxable event, undivided inheritances according to the conditions provided by the corresponding law. Article 21. Taxpayers are obligated to pay assessments and fulfill the formal obligations established by this Code or by special laws. Article 22. Except when they are expressly exempted, centralized and decentralized, State entities as well as state and mixed enterprises, are subject to the assessments governed by this Code and are accordingly obligated to their payment. Article 23. According to the rules specifically established for such responsible parties, the following persons are obligated to pay taxes with the resources that they administer, receive or possess, as the parties responsible for the fulfillment of the tax debt of those that they represent or their principals, creditors, debtors, or owners of the assets administered or liquidated: 1. Parents, guardians and conservators of minors and incompetent persons; 2. Directors, advisors, managers and other representatives or administrators of corporate bodies, partnerships, associations, entities, enterprises and properties to which paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 20 refer; 3. In relation to the owners of properties, enterprises or assets, their administrators who, in the exercise of their responsibilities are capable of determining the matter upon which the corresponding laws impose taxes. They shall pay the corresponding tax and under the same conditions, so shall all agents who are authorized to collect the same; 4. Trustees and liquidators of bankruptcies and bids, representatives of partnerships in liquidation, legal or judicial administrators of successions and in their absence, the surviving spouse and the inheritors; 5. Holders, persons in charge and administrators of state or mixed entities and the enterprises contemplated in Article 22; and 6. Tax withholding and collection agents. Article 24. Notwithstanding the corresponding sanctions to a violation, the following persons guarantee with their own property and jointly with other debtors of the same tax obligation and, if there are any, with other responsible parties: 1. All responsible parties listed in the first five paragraphs of the previous Article, when they do not timely pay the tax owed and do not fulfill their tax obligations; 2. Managers, directors, administrators and trustees, or liquidators of bankruptcies or whoever is the legal representative of an enterprise at the time that it either ceases its operations or alters its

6 course of business, and who either do not give notice of this circumstances to the competent authority or do so outside the time period established by law; 3. Tax withholding and collection agents for taxes that they neglect to withhold or collect or they withheld or collected and did not inform the proper authorities of their action according the form and terms established by the appropriate law. Notwithstanding the joint obligation that taxpayers incur for the expiration of a granted time period, they shall be liable if they do not verify that the taxpayers have fulfilled their tax obligations; and 4. Acting on their own behalf, buyers, cessionaries and successors of assets and liabilities of enterprises or their utilization thereof, that the tax law considers an economic unit susceptible of entirely creating a taxable event. They are liable if the owners or previous holders of the assets and liabilities did not fulfill the administrative requirement of paying the tax owed. In terms of an unspecified fiscal debt, the responsibility of the buyer will expire: a) One year after the transfer has been made, as long as the expiration date is communicated to the competent authority two weeks in advance of the one-year deadline. b) At any point that the competent authority recognizes the transferor is sufficiently solvent with respect to the tax that may be owed, or at any point that the authority accepts a guarantee that the transferor offers for this purpose. 5. If by their own fault or fraud, third parties facilitate tax evasion or tax omission, even if they are not responsible for the tax obligation, or tax preparers who do not fulfill the duties imposed upon them by tax law; and 6. The acquirer of tax credits relating to the tax debt of their cessionaries, up to an amount equal to that which is applied to the payment of the debt, if the existence or legitimacy of such credits is disputed and the debtors do not Article 25. Pursuant to the provisions of this Code, individuals are taxpayers and the parties responsible for all sanctions and related liabilities of the consequences of the acts, deeds or omissions of their agents and dependents. The rights of a deceased taxpayer shall be exercised and their obligations fulfilled by their successors. The pecuniary responsibility of the successors is limited to the amount of their inheritance. Article 26. The legal domicile of taxpayers and other responsible parties shall be as indicated by this Code. The domicile shall be cited in all proceedings that occur before the tax authority. Taxpayers or other responsible parties that depart the country or that have their domicile abroad are obligated to appoint a representative domiciled in Honduras. The failure to fulfill this obligation shall not prevent pecuniary actions to be taken with respect to the taxpayers and other responsible parties. In this case, administrative actions will be taken in their absence and it will not be necessary for the authority to appoint special representatives. Article 27. For all tax purposes, it is presumed that the domicile of natural persons in the country is: 1. Their regular place of residence, as presumed when they reside in it for more than six months during the fiscal year;

7 2. In cases where a regular place of residence is not known or difficult to determine, the domicile shall be considered the place where natural persons regularly conduct their civil and commercial activities or maintain property or goods that give rise to tax obligations. 3. In the event of the non-applicability of the previous categories, the place in which a taxable event occurs; and 4. In cases where there is more than one domicile contemplated in this Article, the domicile is whichever the tax authority determines. Article 28. It is presumed that the domestic domicile of juridical persons is: 1. The place where the Board of Directors or Central Administration is found; 2. In cases where there is no knowledge of the location of the Board of Directors or administration, the place where the main center of activities is located in Honduras; 3. In the event of the non-applicability of the previous categories, the place where the taxable event occurs; and 4. In cases where there is more than one domicile contemplated in this Article, the domicile is whichever the tax authority determines. The provisions of this article are also applied to joint ventures, trusts, successions and analogous entities. Article 29. With respect to persons domiciled abroad, the following rules govern: 1. If their permanent residence is in the country, the provisions of the previous Article shall apply; 2. If they do not have a permanent residence, their domicile is the same as that of their legal representative; and 3. In the absence of such a representative, the domicile will be the place where the taxable event occurs. Article 30. The creation of a special domicile will be accepted, as well as any changes to it, provided that such changes do not hinder the administration, determination or receipt of taxes. A special domicile will be considered acceptable if the tax authority does not oppose it during the thirty days following the notice of such a creation or change. Taxpayers and other responsible parties that request an extension or an installment plan shall create a special domicile for that purpose within the domain in which the tax agency with jurisdiction for that act is located. Article 31. Notwithstanding the obligations inherent to the creation of a special legal domicile within administrative and judicial jurisdictions and according to procedural laws and rules, any of the domiciles provided by the previous articles shall be considered to have the attributes of a created domicile. For that purpose, this domicile shall be valid for the purpose of notices, summons, notifications and any other action that, according to tax law shall be complied with as though it were the regular domicile of taxpayers and other responsible parties. Article 32. Taxpayers and other responsible parties are obligated to inform the competent authority of any change in their domicile within a twenty-day period following the change. Article 33. The taxable event is the assessment established by law to classify taxes whose realization gives rise to the obligation.

8 Article 34. The taxable event of the tax obligation is considered realized: 1. When in the natural and ordinary course of events, the respective tax law considers preferentially factual or economic aspects from the moment that the material or temporal circumstances necessary to produce the corresponding effects arise. 2. When in accordance with the applicable law, the respective tax law considers preferentially its legal aspects from the moment legal acts, situations or relations are constituted. Article 35. The law can distinguish the moment a tax obligation arises from when the taxable event is consummated. The law can anticipate the former with respect to the latter even if the act, deed, transaction or relation classified is still in progress according to the natural and ordinary course of events, as long as its consummation is foreseeable and the respective tax matter can be quantified. In that case, the matter determined and the tax settled will be definitive. When the respective tax law establishes the collection, receipt and withholding of taxes at their source, the regulatory rules may utilize as provided in the previous paragraph. Article 36. When the legal determination of the taxable event of a tax obligation considers preferentially factual or economic aspects for establishing the legal and fiscal nature of the acts, deeds, events and relations of the taxpayers and other responsible parties, their effective economic nature will be primarily taken into consideration. When the actual taxable event is under consideration, if taxpayers and other responsible parties submit these acts, deeds, events or relations that are not clearly of a form, structure or legal type that the Private Law offers or authorizes for adequately establishing their effective economic intent, then the inadequate forms, structures or legal types shall be disregarded. Such actual economic acts, deeds, events or relations shall be classified within the legal forms, structures and types that the Private Law would apply to them regardless of the ones chosen by the taxpayers or other responsible parties, or that they would have been allowed to apply as the most appropriate to their real intention. Article 37. The taxable base is the economic quantification of the taxable event expressed in national currency and is the basis for calculating the payment of the assessment. Except as otherwise provided by legal provision, the quantification shall be based on the economic reality, the normal and ordinary custom of business and accepted accounting rules and regulations. The taxable base shall be proportional both to the taxable event and to the economic capacity of the taxpayer. Article 38. The determination of the taxable matter as well as the amount of the obligation shall be based upon the tax declaration submitted to the competent authority by taxpayers and other responsible parties. In the alternative, it shall be based on the data that the authority has or requires and uses to carry out the administrative settlement as generally established for the assessment in question. Both the declaration and the information required for the administrative settlement of the tax obligation shall contain all the elements and data for its determination and settlement. Article 39. When a tax is due according to the generally established time period, the amount of the tax that taxpayers or other responsible parties shall pay will be the one that results from the deduction of the total tax that corresponds to the fiscal period in which it is filed and the amount already paid on the account or the amount timely established by administrative settlement. In addition, any taxpayer credits already accredited by the competent authority shall be deducted along with any credit balances that the taxpayer or other responsible party has paid in previous filings, as long as these have been accepted and not already applied by the authority. Amounts other than the ones originating from the concepts indicated above shall not be deducted without the consent of the competent authority.

9 Article 40. In addition to cases of the self-payment of taxes by taxpayers and other responsible parties, the following are also of declarative nature: 1. The information required for administrative settlements; 2. The official payment receipts and payment communications made by taxpayers and other responsible parties with information provided by themselves; 3. Information submitted by taxpayers and other responsible parties concerning their legal domicile and in general, all information, allegation or defenses submitted by them to the competent authority that are relevant to the determination of their fiscal situation. Article 41. The declaration or settlement made by the competent authority that is based on information submitted by taxpayers and other responsible parties are subject to verification and if necessary, appropriate adjustments. Article 42. Notwithstanding the provision of the previous Article, a filing makes the declarant responsible for the taxes that they are based upon or are the result of a tax declaration. The taxable amount shall not be reduced by a subsequent filing, except when it is due to a miscalculations in the filing itself. Article 43. Tax credits and the like may be applied to all assets of the taxpayer and other responsible parties and have preference over all other credits, except for: 1. Child support payments; and 2. Irrespective of their dates, advance notice of imminent termination, severance pay, wages and salaries. Article 44. If as a result of a bankruptcy proceeding, payments are suspended or discharged, the judge that adjudicates the matter shall give notice to the tax authorities before pronouncing judgment so that if appropriate, such authorities may demand the payment of the tax credits owed. Article 45. The effect of an exemption is the legal dispensation of a tax payment by a taxpayer and other responsible parties from a verifiable taxable event. Unless otherwise provided by a legal provision, exemptions do not discharge taxpayers and other responsible parties from the fulfillment of secondary tax obligations, such as the obligation to submit tax filing, withhold taxes, declare domicile, and other obligations associated with fiscal verification competences. Article 46. The law that establishes exemptions shall specify the requirements and conditions required for their dispensation, as well as the taxes included, whether they are a total or partial exemption and if required, the term of their duration. Article 47. As provided in Article 19, with respect to matters of joint and several liability, the subjective exemption of one party does not benefit the remainder of the parties. As long as the extent of participation in the realization of the taxable event may be accurately determined, this exemption shall be effective only for the subject benefited by way of repetition. Article 48. Objective exemptions shall not be effective when acts, deeds, transactions or relations exempted are executed jointly and complementarily to taxed acts, deeds, transactions or relations. Article 49. A tax obligation is discharged by the following means: 1. Payment or fulfillment; 2. Compensation;

10 3. Debt forgiveness or remission; and 4. Dept prescription. Article 50. The provisions of the Civil Code on the discharge of tax obligations shall govern all matters not provided for in this Title. Article 51. The payment of taxes shall be made by taxpayers and other responsible parties. When the amount of such an obligation is determined and paid in compliance with the provisions of this Code and all other applicable tax laws, this payment may also be made by third parties independent of the tax obligation, subrogating this obligation only in terms of the right to credits and guarantees, preferences and substantial privileges. Article 52. Through its regulatory rules, the law and the competent authority shall establish the expiration of the general time periods for the payment of taxes and account credits, as well as for filings and any other documentation needed to determine or pay such taxes. Article 53. The payment of taxes determined or settled by the competent authority shall be made in the place, date, and form established by law or in the absence of such law, by the appropriate regulations. Article 54. In special circumstances, pursuant to the request of taxpayers and other responsible parties, the competent authority may grant extensions or installment plans that have a maximum period of twentyfour months. In case of extensions greater than six months, the tax credit shall be guaranteed by collateral. Such extensions or installment plans shall be requested before the expiration of the payment period. They shall only be granted when in the judgment of the competent authority the taxpayer substantiates the causes that prevented the normal fulfillment of the tax obligation. Requests denied are not subject to appeal. Extensions or installment plans shall not be granted in any cases where taxes were not received or deposited. Article 55. In considering the nature of a tax or taxable event, the law establishes in compliance with Article 35 of this Code and notwithstanding the obligation of such agents to record the amounts within the periods due, that the tax received or withheld by tax agents will have the effect of discharging the obligation of the taxpayer. Article 56. The payment of taxes, interests and penalties shall be made by certified check, wire transfer, money order or deposit in special bank accounts that the competent authority authorizes for that purpose or in accordance with regulations that the competent authority enacts. Taking into consideration the nature of the taxes and special cases, both tax law and the regulations of the competent authority may establish other methods of payment. Article 57. The payment of taxes and all other tax obligations are payable in the Honduran locality where taxpayers or other responsible parties are domiciled or in case of their absence, where their representative is domiciled. The payment of the obligations received or withheld by the respective agents shall be made in the place of their domicile. The competent authority shall establish the place of payment when the domicile of taxpayers or responsible parties is not known or cannot be determined or in their absence, the domicile of their representative is disregarded. In cases where there are not any bank institutions or offices authorized by the competent authority to receive payment in the locality where the taxpayers or other responsible parties are domiciled, the authority will determine through general rules the place where these payments may be made. Article 58. When making a payment, taxpayers and other responsible parties may determine to which debt the payment should be credited. If this is not done or the credit was in error and circumstances do not permit the establishment of the appropriate debt, the competent authority shall determine according to the following rules to which of the existing obligations the payment shall be credited:

11 1a. When the debt is composed of capital and interests, the payment shall be credited proportionally to both categories; 2a. When taxes and payments on accounts are owed jointly with penalties, the payment shall be credited proportionally; and 3a. Between obligations of the same nature, the payment shall be credited to the oldest debt and if they are of equal maturity, to the one of greater value. Article 59. With respect to liquid and payable credits of taxpayers that result from tax debts and the like, if the party has already paid the debt but has not yet been credited, the party shall be officially compensated either at the initiative of the government or by request of the party itself. With respect to periods not yet terminated, in cases of officially settled tax debts and the like, even if they come from different taxes obligations, the discharge begins with the most mature debt as long as they are administered by the same tax entity. Penalties, taxes and the like and the reverse are also compensable. Article 60. By prior authorization of the competent authority, receipt and collection agents shall compensate excess tax amounts that were paid as a result of mistakes in receipt or withholding with respect to the same tax and the same taxpayer or other responsible parties. Article 61. For the sole purpose of compensation, liquid and payable credits of a taxpayer may be granted to other taxpayers and responsible parties with tax debts that the cessionary owes the competent authority. In all cases, thi cession or transfer shall be previously authorized by the competent authority. Article 62. In cases where the competent authority verifies that a taxpayer has paid excess taxes, before proceeding to the reimbursement or credit, the taxpayer shall be informed that the following compensations shall be made: 1. The balance shall be applied to any existing debt for taxes, interests, surcharge or other penalties that the taxpayer has pending. This includes debts originating from the obligation of the taxpayer as a receipt and collection agent; 2. If after the compensation required in the previous paragraph there is a credit in favor of the taxpayer, it shall be applied to pay the amount of partial or provisional payments due in the current fiscal period; and 3. The taxpayer shall be notified of these compensations as well as of the existence of any remaining balance. If such a balance is in favor of the taxpayer, it shall be credited to any new tax debt, except when the taxpayer opts for its return. In such cases, the balance shall be remitted through a resolution enacted by the competent authority. Article 63. Counting from the date of the resolution of a tax credit, if after a period of two months the respective amount has not been credited or alternatively not yet been put at the disposal of the interested party, such amount shall accrue interest as established by Article 83 of this Code. No tax credit or refund shall be granted that corresponds to tax periods in which the right of the National Treasury to determine and settle the tax has expired. The Executive Branch shall annually allocate a specific line item within the General Budget of Income and Expenditures of the Nation in order to guarantee the refunds established in this Article. Article 64. Only a law of general nature enacted by the National Congress shall pardon an obligation of the payment of taxes or the like. In no case shall the payment obligation of receipt and collection agents be pardoned for the taxes withheld or received, as well as the respective surcharges and interests, and not recorded in the National Treasury.

12 Article 65. The acts taken and the enforcement power of the authorities of the National Treasury to determine and compel the payment of the tax obligations governed by this Code, as well as the application and assessing of penalties provided herein, shall expire: 1. After five years for registered taxpayers and other responsible parties, as well as for unregistered taxpayers and other responsible parties that do not have the legal obligation to register before the competent authority or that having that obligation and not having fulfilled it normalize their situation of their own accord; and 2. After ten years for both unregistered taxpayers and other responsible parties and those who have not filed taxes and are registered. Article 66. Payments to fulfill an expired obligation cannot be subject to repetition, even if the payment has been made with or without knowledge of such expiration. Article 67. The expiration of a tax obligation extinguishes the right to charge interest on the tax obligation. Article 68. With respect to the exercise of the powers of verification and control, the term of expiration of the acts and enforcement power of the tax authorities to determine a tax and the like and to demand payment begins to run the day after the tax filing has been submitted. Article 69. The term of expiration to apply penalties begins to run the day after the infraction has been committed. Article 70. The term of expiration to impose a penalty begins to run from the date of the notice of the resolution of the matter or of the imposition of a non-appealable judgment. Article 71. The term of expiration for the action of tax repetitions and the like begins to run the day after each payment or recording, independently for each respective payment or recording. Article 72. The term of expiration for the action of repetition of payments on tax accounts begins to run the day after the respective payment has been made. Article 73. In cases of the death of the taxpayer or other responsible parties, the term of the expiration is tolled in favor of the inheritors counted for one time from the date of the death and for a term of one year. Article 74. The expiration of acts and the enforcement power of the authorities of the National Treasury to determine, settle and demand the payment of taxes shall be tolled by: 1. The determination of the tax by either the tax authority or the taxpayer, as long as the date of tolling is the same as the date of notification of the administrative resolution or the submission of the respective out-of-term filing; 2. The expressed recognition of the tax obligation on the part of the debtor; 3. The granting of an extension and other installment plans; and 4. The exercise of this action before a court or a competent judge. Once the expiration is tolled, the period of time that passed before the tolling shall not be taken into consideration and the term of expiration shall begin to be counted again the day after the conclusion of the toll. Article 75. The term of expiration of an action to apply or impose penalties will be tolled by:

13 1. The commission of new infractions; and 2. The exercise of the respective actions before the competent judicial authority. Article 76. With respect to the actions included in Articles 74 and 75, an additional period of expiration will begin to run the day after a deed or act occurred that gave rise to the tolling. Article 77. The expiration of an action to grant a refund to a taxpayer or responsible party will be tolled by: 1. The filing of an appropriate administrative claim before the competent authority. In this case, the new expiration period begins to run on the day after the claim is filed; and 2. The filing of a lawsuit before the competent judicial authority, except when the plaintiff withdraws the lawsuit or the term of the legal action expires. Article 78. As provided by this Code, in cases of joint and several liability, the tolling of the expiration independently benefits or harms each respective creditor or debtor. Article 79. The filing of an appeal against resolutions of the competent authority tolls its expiration. The new period is counted beginning the day after an action is final. Article 80. Without any action from the competent authority, the failure to make total or partial tax payments or payments on account, determines the obligation of paying, jointly with the principal, any debt interest. The interest shall not be less than twice the annual current fixed rate, according to the policies established by the Central Bank of Honduras. The interest to which the previous paragraph refers starts to accrue from the moment of the nonfulfillment of the principal, until the debt is paid in full. The subjects indicated in the previous paragraphs also include assessed penalties, as well as cases of agreed upon extensions, installment plans and deferments granted in light of special circumstances.