Bill 197.

Summary.

The bill would require natural and legal persons engaged in selling vehicles to process circulation permits in the municipality corresponding to each owner's residential or business domicile. It covers automobile and motorcycle agencies, distributors, dealerships and automotive businesses selling new or used vehicles for personal, commercial or specialized use throughout the country. Its stated objectives address municipal collection of the vehicle circulation tax, management of municipal resources, relations with taxpayers, fiscal equity, public service, transparency and decentralization of administrative procedures.

Article 4 amends article 6 of Law 15 of 1995. Motor vehicles imported by dealers or acquired through transactions between private parties would be entered in the Single Vehicle Registry and would pay their circulation taxes and fees in the municipality of the owner's domicile. A natural person would establish domicile through a certificate issued by the Electoral Tribunal (Tribunal Electoral); a legal person would use the domicile stated in its operating permit certificate. For a new or imported vehicle, the license plate application would include the stamped customs assessment or a copy authenticated by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas). A secondhand vehicle would require its Single Vehicle Certificate, inspection certificate, license plate payment receipt and certificate showing that it has no outstanding obligations to the previous municipality. Before issuing a plate, a municipality would verify that the vehicle has no outstanding obligations to other municipalities. Municipalities would regulate and administer motor vehicle parking in their respective districts.

Articles 5 and 6 amend articles 8 and 11 of Law 15 of 1995. A vehicle acquired through inheritance would be registered in the Single Vehicle Registry, and its circulation tax would be paid in the municipality of the heir's domicile. The applicant would attach official documents establishing ownership and the required certificate of no outstanding municipal obligations. The ownership registration form would record the neighborhood, street and number of the owner's home, office or business, supported by an Electoral Tribunal domicile certificate or an operating permit certificate, as applicable.

Article 7 amends article 23 of Law 15 of 1995. An owner would obtain the permit from the municipality corresponding to the domicile declared to the National Motor Vehicle Registry Section (Sección Nacional de Registro de Vehículos Motorizados). A seller of new vehicles would carry out the initial permit procedure. For a foreign resident, the relevant domicile would be the one declared to the National Migration Service (Servicio Nacional de Migración). A foreign nonresident would provide a lease or a utility bill establishing domicile. An owner could request a change in the vehicle's municipality of registration with certificates from the vehicle registry section and the municipality where the vehicle was registered, showing that the change was notified and recorded. The municipal tax for the following year would be paid in the new municipality. Existing liens or precautionary measures would remain attached to the vehicle.

Article 8 adds article 23-A to Law 15 of 1995. In a sale between private parties, the buyer would register the circulation permit in the municipality of the buyer's domicile at least one month before the existing permit expires and submit an Electoral Tribunal domicile certificate or an operating permit. Article 9 adds article 23-B: a municipality that did not receive the circulation tax could fine an owner who failed to comply, and that municipality would set the fine. Article 10 amends article 72 of Law 106 of 1973 to include the vehicle circulation tax among Municipal Treasury resources, alongside the other listed sources, including those connected with the Tax Code (Código Fiscal). Article 11 identifies the amendments and additions. Article 12 provides for commencement three hundred and sixty-five days after promulgation in the Official Gazette.

The bill concerns municipalities, the Electoral Tribunal, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the National Motor Vehicle Registry Section and the National Migration Service. Its provisions could also affect vehicle owners and heirs, automotive businesses, and people buying or selling vehicles privately.