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| Cross in the street: With their emergency vehicles clogging Avenida Central near the Legislative Assembly in downtown San José yesterday, Red Cross workers demonstrate for passage of a bill that would add a 1 percent tax to phone bills over 5,000 colones, not to exceed a total tax of 500. The bill, which passed first debate yesterday afternoon, is meant to raise some $4 million for the Red Cross, a quarter of its annual budget. |
| Ronald Reyes | Tico Times |
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| Costa Rica lawmakers pass new property tax |
Owners of properties worth more than about $182,000 will soon pay a new graduated tax, the first major fiscal reform since President Oscar Arias took office in May 2006. |
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| Nicaragua exports this year already beat 2007 total |
| MANAGUA Goods exported from Nicaragua grossed more than $1.39 billion in the first 10 months of the year, speeding past the $1.24 billion year-end total for 2007, the Center for Export Processing said. |
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| Universal opens in Desamparados,
plans for 14 stores in Costa Rica |
Universal, the popular one-stop shopping chain, today is opening a new store in Multicentro Desamparados, its 10th in Costa Rica. |
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By Alex Leff
Tico Times Staff | aleff@ticotimes.net |
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| Friday Nov 7 |
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Costa Rican Film and Video Festival
Through Nov. 12, Variedades Theater, Calle 5, Avenida Central and 1, www.ticotimes.net/culture.htm.
Golden Games
Sports competitions for seniors, UCR, San Ramón campus.
Dance show: Electrodomésticos'
Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Sunday, 5 p.m., Teatro Atahualpa del Cioppo, UNA, Heredia.
Films on mining
La riqueza se va, la pobreza se queda (Peru), Cobre, riqueza de la miseria (Chile), 7 p.m., CEP Alforja, 50 m east of Il Pomodoro restaurant, Plaza Roosevelt, San Pedro.
9th International Baroque Music Festival
Shows in Santa Ana Church, Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles in Cartago, and Sarapiquí, see print or pdf edition of The Tico Times for complete calendar.
Flamenco show
Spanish and Costa Rican dancers, 8 p.m., Eugene O'Neill Theater, CCCN, Barrio Dent. Info: 2207-7554.
Blues Devils in concert
Blues, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.
Chocolate in concert
Salsa, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, www.jazzcafecostarica.com. |
| Saturday Nov 8 |
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Beach tennis tournament
Registration, preliminary rounds 8 a.m.-4 p.m.; semifinals, finals, Sunday, 8-11 a.m., Best Western Jacó Beach, Jacó Puntarenas. Info: costaricajeff@yahoo.com, rgsobrado@grupomarta.com.
Circus and Alternative Arts Festival
Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Polideportivo Aranjuez, Barrio Aranjuez. Info: http://festivaldecirco.blogspot.com.
Parrita Pacific Equestrian Festival
Horse show with various breeds, music, dance, noon-8 p.m., Parrita fairgrounds. Info: 8363-2209, ridingadventure@gmail.com.
Piano concert
Richard Ulate, 6 p.m., UCR, Palmares campus. Info: 2437-9886.
Angelicus Chorale concerts
With Paraíso Orchestra, Vivaldi's Magnificat, 7 p.m., Church of the Immaculate Conception, downtown Heredia.
Bernal, Pato & Mechas in concert
Rock, pop, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.
Robert Aguilar and the Neotics in concert
Neo soul, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.
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| Sunday Nov 9 |
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SASY charity auction
Wine, bocas, dancing, to stop animal suffering, 2-6 p.m., Real InterContinental hotel, Escazú. Info: Laurel Harry, 2249-4953.
International Gay and Lesbian Association luncheon
2 p.m., San Pedro, directions and registration at 2280-3548.
Francisco Murillo in concert
Trova, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.
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| Costa Rica lawmakers pass new property tax |
By Gillian Gillers
Tico Times Staff | ggillers@ticotimes.net |
Owners of properties worth more than about $182,000 will soon pay a new graduated tax, the first major fiscal reform since President Oscar Arias took office in May 2006.
Approved by lawmakers late last week, the tax will raise an estimated ¢9.7 billion (about $18 million) a year to fund the state's efforts to rebuild substandard housing, according to an estimate by the Legislative Assembly's budget analysis department.
The bill, which still must be signed by Arias, imposes an annual 0.25 percent tax on properties worth between ¢100 million ($182,000) and ¢250 million ($454,500). So a person owning a $200,000 house would pay an additional $500 a year in property taxes.
The new property tax increases with the property's value, up to a 0.55 percent levy on properties worth more than ¢1.5 billion ($2.7 million).
An estimated 6,500 properties will be affected by the new tax, the government said.
The taxes must be paid in the first 15 days of each year. Properties belonging to the government, public institutions, churches and non-profit organizations are exempt.
The revenue will go to the National Housing Mortgage Bank (BANHVI), which offers grants to poor families looking to rebuild their homes and neighborhoods.
About 40,000 families live in substandard housing in Costa Rica, according to BANHVI spokeswoman Susan Otárola.
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| Nicaragua exports this year already beat 2007 total |
MANAGUA Goods exported from Nicaragua grossed more than $1.39 billion in the first 10 months of the year, speeding past the $1.24 billion year-end total for 2007, the Center for Export Processing said.
Last year's exports were the highest in three decades.
By October this year, sales of goods abroad grew 32.3 percent over the same period in 2007.
By the end of the first semester, imports reach $1.96 billion, the bulk of which owes to Nicaragua's external oil dependency. The exports authority did not divulge the latest imports figures.
Coffee and beef continued to top the list of exports, bringing in $260 million and $183 million, respectively, in the first 10 months of the year. |
-EFE |
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Universal opens in Desamparados,
plans for 14 stores in Costa Rica |
Universal, the popular one-stop shopping chain, today is opening a new store in Multicentro Desamparados, its 10th in Costa Rica.
The chain plans to open four more before 2010, bringing their Costa Rican total to 14, according to the daily La Nación.
The store's management will take the beginning of 2009 to evaluate the country's economic situation and has not set exact locations for most of the planned stores. The new shops are tentatively planned for Escazú, Moravia, Alajuela and Cartago.
Universal sells technological products, sports equipment, books, office supplies and furniture, children's toys, and many other goods.
The first Universal opened in 1926 in San José. Stores now are spread out between the capital, Santa Ana, Heredia and Liberia, among other locations. |
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