Summary.
The bill proposes amending Article 241 of Chapter II, Title VII, Book Two, of the Criminal Code. The amended provision concerns employee and employer contributions owed to the Social Security Fund and the enrollment of persons required to join Social Security. Article 1 sets out a complete new text for Article 241, with different prison terms depending on the conduct and a rule increasing the penalty for those who order contributions to be withheld.
The first offense covers anyone who withholds employee and employer contributions and fails to remit them to the Social Security Fund within 3 months after the payment obligation arises, provided the contributions exceed 1,000 balboas (B/.1 ,000.00). The same provision addresses anyone whom the Fund has required to release the withheld contributions. For this conduct, the proposed article prescribes imprisonment for three to five years. Its wording thus links the withholding and failure to remit to the time elapsed since the payment obligation arose, the stated amount, and the Fund’s demand.
The proposed Article 241 also prescribes imprisonment for four to six years for employers, their representatives, and other obligated persons who evade or prevent, by any means, the enrollment in Social Security of persons required to enroll. It identifies deceptive statements, deliberate concealment, and any other ruse as means of committing this offense. This provision concerns enrollment and is separate from the withholding and failure to remit contributions addressed in the preceding paragraph.
The provision also proposes increasing the penalty by one-sixth to one-third when an employer, legal representative, or person acting in either capacity orders a manager, administrator, or accountant to withhold contributions. This rule identifies both those who may give the order and those who receive it to carry out the withholding. Its placement at the end of Article 241 makes it part of the new criminal provision proposed by the bill.
Article 2 expressly identifies the amendment as a modification of Article 241 of the consolidated text of the Criminal Code, which it links to Law 14 of 2007 and its amendments and additions. Article 3 provides that the proposed law would take effect six months after its promulgation in the Official Gazette. Its provisions concern the Social Security Fund and employers, their representatives, managers, administrators, accountants, other obligated persons, and persons whose enrollment in Social Security is mandatory.
What it proposes.
- Withholding and remittance of employee and employer contributions.
- Mandatory enrollment in Social Security.
- Prison terms and increased penalties for the conduct described.
Who it would affect.
- Employers and their representatives.
- Other obligated persons.
- Persons who order managers, administrators, or accountants to withhold contributions.
- Persons required to enroll in Social Security.
Key points.
- Amends Article 241 of the Criminal Code concerning employee and employer contributions and enrollment in Social Security.Art. 1
- Proposes imprisonment for three to five years for withholding contributions exceeding 1,000 balboas (B/.1 ,000.00) and failing to remit them within 3 months after the payment obligation arises.Art. 1
- Also covers anyone whom the Social Security Fund has required to release the withheld contributions.Art. 1
- Proposes imprisonment for four to six years for obligated persons who evade or prevent mandatory enrollment through deception, deliberate concealment, or another ruse.Art. 1
- Increases the penalty by one-sixth to one-third for anyone who orders a manager, administrator, or accountant to withhold contributions.Art. 1
- Identifies the amendment to Article 241 of the consolidated text of the Criminal Code, linked to Law 14 of 2007 and its amendments and additions.Art. 2
- Provides that the law will take effect six months after promulgation in the Official Gazette (Gaceta Oficial).Art. 3