Doing Business 2019 Honduras Economy Profile Honduras Page 1 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Economy Profile of Honduras Doing Business 2019 Indicators (in order of appearance in the document) Starting a business Procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital to start a limited liability company Dealing with construction permits Procedures, time and cost to complete all formalities to build a warehouse and the quality control and safety mechanisms in the construction permitting system Getting electricity Procedures, time and cost to get connected to the electrical grid, and the reliability of the electricity supply and the transparency of tariffs Registering property Procedures, time and cost to transfer a property and the quality of the land administration system Getting credit Movable collateral laws and credit information systems Protecting minority investors Minority shareholders’ rights in related-party transactions and in corporate governance Paying taxes Payments, time, total tax and contribution rate for a firm to comply with all tax regulations as well as post-filing processes Trading across borders Time and cost to export the product of comparative advantage and import auto parts Enforcing contracts Time and cost to resolve a commercial dispute and the quality of judicial processes Resolving insolvency Time, cost, outcome and recovery rate for a commercial insolvency and the strength of the legal framework for insolvency Labor market regulation Flexibility in employment regulation and aspects of job quality Page 2 Doing Business 2019 Honduras About Doing Business The Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level. The Doing Business project, launched in 2002, looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle. Doing Business captures several important dimensions of the regulatory environment as it applies to local firms. It provides quantitative indicators on regulation for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation. Although Doing Business does not present rankings of economies on the labor market regulation indicators or include the topic in the aggregate ease of doing business score or ranking on the ease of doing business, it does present the data for these indicators. By gathering and analyzing comprehensive quantitative data to compare business regulation environments across economies and over time, Doing Business encourages economies to compete towards more efficient regulation; offers measurable benchmarks for reform; and serves as a resource for academics, journalists, private sector researchers and others interested in the business climate of each economy. In addition, Doing Business offers detailed subnational reports, which exhaustively cover business regulation and reform in different cities and regions within a nation. These reports provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. Selected cities can compare their business regulations with other cities in the economy or region and with the 190 economies that Doing Business has ranked. The first Doing Business report, published in 2003, covered 5 indicator sets and 133 economies. This year’s report covers 11 indicator sets and 190 economies. Most indicator sets refer to a case scenario in the largest business city of each economy, except for 11 economies that have a population of more than 100 million as of 2013 (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation and the United States) where Doing Business also collected data for the second largest business city. The data for these 11 economies are a population-weighted average for the 2 largest business cities. The project has benefited from feedback from governments, academics, practitioners and reviewers. The initial goal remains: to provide an objective basis for understanding and improving the regulatory environment for business around the world. More about Doing Business (PDF, 5MB) Page 3 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Ease of Doing Business in DB 2019 Rank Region Latin America & Caribbean 190 1 Honduras Income Category Lower middle income 121 DB 2019 Ease of doing business score Population 9,265,067 0 100 City Covered Tegucigalpa 58.22 DB 2019 Ease of Doing Business Score 0 100 69.24: Colombia (Rank: 65) 68.89: Costa Rica (Rank: 67) 65.41: El Salvador (Rank: 85) 62.17: Guatemala (Rank: 98) 58.97: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 58.22: Honduras (Rank: 121) Note: The ease of doing business score captures the gap of each economy from the best regulatory performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies in the Doing Business sample since 2005. An economy’s ease of doing business score is reflected on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest and 100 represents the best performance. The ease of doing business ranking ranges from 1 to 190. Rankings on Doing Business topics - Honduras 1 12 28 55 82 Rank 95 109 116 123 136 140 143 154 153 152 164 163 190 Starting Dealing Getting Registering Getting Protecting Paying Trading Enforcing Resolving a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Investors Borders Permits Ease of Doing Business Score on Doing Business topics - Honduras 100 85.00 80 77.06 66.10 65.85 63.43 Score 60 53.78 51.74 45.54 41.67 40 32.09 20 0 Starting Dealing Getting Registering Getting Protecting Paying Trading Enforcing Resolving a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Investors Borders Permits Page 4 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Starting a Business This topic measures the number of procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital requirement for a small- to medium-sized limited liability company to start up and formally operate in each economy’s largest business city. To make the data comparable across 190 economies, Doing Business uses a standardized business that is 100% domestically owned, has start-up capital equivalent to 10 times the income per capita, engages in general industrial or commercial activities and employs between 10 and 50 people one month after the commencement of operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. Starting a Business considers two types of local limited liability companies that are identical in all aspects, except that one company is owned by 5 married women and the other by 5 married men. The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally start and formally operate To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the a company (number) business and the procedures are used. It is assumed that any required information is readily available and that the entrepreneur will pay no bribes. • Preregistration (for example, name verification or reservation, notarization) The business: • Registration in the economy’s largest business - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). If there is more than one type city of limited liability company in the economy, the most common among domestic firms • Postregistration (for example, social security is chosen. Information on the most common form is obtained from incorporation registration, company seal) lawyers or the statistical office. - Operates in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are • Obtaining approval from spouse to start a business or to leave the home to register the also collected for the second largest business city. company - The entire office space is approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet). - Is 100% domestically owned and has five owners, none of whom is a legal entity; • Obtaining any gender specific document for has a start-up capital of 10 times income per capita and has a turnover of at least company registration and operation or national 100 times income per capita. identification card - Performs general industrial or commercial activities, such as the production or sale of goods or services to the public. The business does not perform foreign trade Time required to complete each procedure activities and does not handle products subject to a special tax regime, for example, (calendar days) liquor or tobacco. It does not use heavily polluting production processes. • Does not include time spent gathering - Leases the commercial plant or offices and is not a proprietor of real estate and the information amount of the annual lease for the office space is equivalent to the income per capita. • Each procedure starts on a separate day (2 procedures cannot start on the same day) - Does not qualify for investment incentives or any special benefits. - Has at least 10 and up to 50 employees one month after the commencement of • Procedures fully completed online are recorded operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. as ½ day - Has a company deed that is 10 pages long. • Procedure is considered completed once final document is received The owners: • No prior contact with officials - Have reached the legal age of majority. If there is no legal age of majority, they are assumed to be 30 years old. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of - Are sane, competent, in good health and have no criminal record. income per capita) - Are married and the marriage is monogamous and registered with the authorities. - Where the answer differs according to the legal system applicable to the woman or • Official costs only, no bribes man in question (as may be the case in economies where there is legal plurality), the • No professional fees unless services required by answer used will be the one that applies to the majority of the population. law or commonly used in practice Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita) • Funds deposited in a bank or with third party before registration or up to 3 months after incorporation Page 5 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Starting a Business - Honduras Standardized Company Legal form Private Limited Company Paid-in minimum capital requirement HNL 0 City Covered Tegucigalpa Indicator Honduras Latin America OECD high Best Regulatory & Caribbean income Performance Procedure – Men (number) 11 8.2 4.9 1 (New Zealand) Time – Men (days) 13 28.5 9.3 0.5 (New Zealand) Cost – Men (% of income per capita) 40.7 37.8 3.1 0.0 (Slovenia) Procedure – Women (number) 11 8.2 4.9 1 (New Zealand) Time – Women (days) 13 28.5 9.3 0.5 (New Zealand) Cost – Women (% of income per capita) 40.7 37.8 3.1 0.0 (Slovenia) Paid-in min. capital (% of income per capita) 0.0 1.5 8.6 0.0 (117 Economies) Figure – Starting a Business in Honduras and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Starting a Business Score 0 100 86.71: Guatemala (Rank: 89) 85.31: Colombia (Rank: 100) 79.92: Costa Rica (Rank: 142) 79.40: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 78.41: El Salvador (Rank: 147) 77.06: Honduras (Rank: 154) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators. Page 6 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Figure – Starting a Business in Honduras – Procedure, Time and Cost Time (days) Cost (% of income per capita) 35 12 30 Cost (% of income per capita) 10 25 Time (days) 8 20 6 15 4 10 2 5 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 *9 * 10 * 11 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology ). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary below. Page 7 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Details – Starting a Business in Honduras – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedures Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Pay the initial capital and obtain the certificate of the deposit at a local 1 day L. 100 bank Agency : Bank The Mercantile Registry typically requires at least 5,000 lempiras of startup capital in practice. The entrepreneurs need to pay the initial capital in a local bank and obtain the certificate of the deposit. 2 Establish the company before a notary public, who will draw up the articles 2 days notary fees of 5% for of incorporation companies with share Agency : Notary capital up to L.25,000 A company may be set up by public subscription or simultaneous foundation. The and 3% for procedures described here are for simultaneous foundation (fundación simultánea). companies with over L.25,000 of share The constitution instrument should be written on stamped paper (papel sellado). The capital notary uses this paper for the protocol (the original signed document in the notary’s custody) and for the first copy (testimonio) of the instrument of organization. 3 File the articles of incorporation with the Mercantile Registry at the 2 days L. 200 for the first Chamber of Commerce L.1,000 of capital + Agency : Chamber of Commerce L.1.5 per L.1,000 of It is necessary to register the Public Deed with the Mercantile Registry at the Chamber of capital or fraction Commerce. thereof. 4 Apply for the tax identification code (Registro Tributario Nacional, RTN) 1 day no charge Agency : Revenues Administration Service (Servicio de Administración de Rentas, SAR) All natural or legal persons must apply for a tax identification code (Registro Tributario Nacional, RTN) at the at the Ministry of Finance's Revenues Administration Service (Servicio de Administración de Rentas, SAR). To obtain it, the notary public who authorizes an incorporation deed must notify the administrative authority of the incorporation. 5 Acquire accounting and minutes books 1 day USD 45 (about USD Agency : Authorized Vendor 0.50 per page) The minute books can be authorized as a separate bound sheet and not necessarily as book. 6 Register with local and national Chambers of Commerce 1 day L. 1,850 Agency : Chamber of Commerce The company needs to register with the local and national chambers of commerce. The cost to register depends on the company's share capital: - Share capital from L. 1 to L. 200,000: L. 590 - Share capital from L. 200,001 to L. 400,000: L. 850 - Share capital from L. 400,001 to L. 700,000: L. 1,850 - Share capital L. 700,001 and above: L. 3,000 Page 8 Doing Business 2019 Honduras 7 Apply for an operational permit (Permiso de Operación) from the municipal 1 day L. 1,250 authorities Agency : Municipality To obtain the operational permit, some or all of the following documents must be filed, depending on the type of industrial or commercial activity: - Personal identity card and municipality tax solvency of the general manager (copies); - Tax identification code (RTN) (copy); - Cadastral code (clave cadastral) corresponding to the corporation’s place of business; - Constitution instrument (escritura de constitución de la compañía) (copy); - Zoning constancy; - Tenancy agreement and constancy of income tax solvency corresponding to the owner of the premises in which the company will do business; - Environmental impact statement; - Cadastral inspection of the premises in which the corporation will do business. In addition, the company must pay the following taxes, which vary based on the company’s income: nomenclature tax, zoning tax, inspection tax, code tax, environmental tax, and taxes for firefighting and waste management services (paid annually to the municipality). Regarding the accounting books there are 2 ways in which they can be authorized. If the company follows manual accounting procedures, the books must be filed before the Mayor's office for authorization. The cost ranges between L.1-5 per page for three mandatory books. If the company opts to keep electronic books, it must request permission from the tax authority (Servicio de Administración de Rentas, SAR) and submit separate bound sheets before the Mayor's office by the end of each year (or earlier per the company's decision). In this case there are no associated costs. 8 Register for Sales tax 2 days no charge Agency : Revenues Administration Service (Servicio de Administración de Rentas, SAR) According to the Tax Code (Código Tributario), the company is obliged to record the constitution instrument and the operation permit before the Minister of Finance's Revenues Administration Service (Servicio de Administración de Rentas, SAR), in order to pay sales tax on the sale of goods or services. 9 Register at Social Security Institute (Instituto Hondureño de Seguridad 3 days no charge Social, IHSS) (simultaneous with Agency : Social Security Institute previous procedure) The Social Security Institute (Instituto Hondureño de Seguridad Social, IHSS) is the national social security hospital and outpatient care institution for workers and their dependents. The company is obliged to contribute 5% of each employee’s salary for illness and maternity (enfermedad y maternidad, EM), plus 2% for disability, old age, and death (invalidez, vejez y muerte, IVM)—a total of 7% up to a maximum of L.7,000. Register at the Professional Training Institute (Instituto Nacional de 1 day (simultaneous no charge 10 Formación Profesional, INFOP) with previous Agency : Hand Labor Training Institute procedure) Employers are obliged to contribute 1% of the company’s total payroll to the Professional Training Institute (Instituto Nacional de Formación Profesional, INFOP). Register at Social Fund for Housing (Régimen de Aportación, RAP, del 1 day (simultaneous no charge 11 Fondo Social de la Vivienda, FOSOVI) with previous Agency : Social Fund for Housing procedure) If the company has more than 10 employees, it is obliged to contribute 1.5% of each employee’s salary to the Social Fund for Housing (Régimen de Aportación, RAP, and Fondo Social de la Vivienda, FOSOVI). Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Page 9 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Dealing with Construction Permits This topic tracks the procedures, time and cost to build a warehouse—including obtaining necessary the licenses and permits, submitting all required notifications, requesting and receiving all necessary inspections and obtaining utility connections. In addition, the Dealing with Construction Permits indicator measures the building quality control index, evaluating the quality of building regulations, the strength of quality control and safety mechanisms, liability and insurance regimes, and professional certification requirements. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally build a warehouse To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the (number) construction company, the warehouse project and the utility connections are used. • Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining The construction company (BuildCo): all necessary clearances, licenses, permits and certificates - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent) and operates in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second • Submitting all required notifications and receiving largest business city. all necessary inspections - Is 100% domestically and privately owned; has five owners, none of whom is a • Obtaining utility connections for water and legal entity. Has a licensed architect and a licensed engineer, both registered with sewerage the local association of architects or engineers. BuildCo is not assumed to have any other employees who are technical or licensed experts, such as geological or • Registering and selling the warehouse after its completion topographical experts. - Owns the land on which the warehouse will be built and will sell the warehouse Time required to complete each procedure upon its completion. (calendar days) The warehouse: • Does not include time spent gathering information - Will be used for general storage activities, such as storage of books or stationery. - Will have two stories, both above ground, with a total constructed area of • Each procedure starts on a separate day— approximately 1,300.6 square meters (14,000 square feet). Each floor will be 3 though procedures that can be fully completed meters (9 feet, 10 inches) high and will be located on a land plot of approximately online are an exception to this rule 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) that is 100% owned by BuildCo, and the • Procedure is considered completed once final warehouse is valued at 50 times income per capita. document is received - Will have complete architectural and technical plans prepared by a licensed architect. If preparation of the plans requires such steps as obtaining further • No prior contact with officials documentation or getting prior approvals from external agencies, these are counted Cost required to complete each procedure (% of as procedures. income per capita) - Will take 30 weeks to construct (excluding all delays due to administrative and regulatory requirements). • Official costs only, no bribes The water and sewerage connections: Building quality control index (0-15) - Will be 150 meters (492 feet) from the existing water source and sewer tap. If there • Quality of building regulations (0-2) is no water delivery infrastructure in the economy, a borehole will be dug. If there is • Quality control before construction (0-1) no sewerage infrastructure, a septic tank in the smallest size available will be installed or built. • Quality control during construction (0-3) - Will have an average water use of 662 liters (175 gallons) a day and an average • Quality control after construction (0-3) wastewater flow of 568 liters (150 gallons) a day. Will have a peak water use of 1,325 liters (350 gallons) a day and a peak wastewater flow of 1,136 liters (300 • Liability and insurance regimes (0-2) gallons) a day. • Professional certifications (0-4) - Will have a constant level of water demand and wastewater flow throughout the year; will be 1 inch in diameter for the water connection and 4 inches in diameter for the sewerage connection. Page 10 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Dealing with Construction Permits - Honduras Standardized Warehouse Estimated value of warehouse HNL 2,703,896.30 City Covered Tegucigalpa Indicator Honduras Latin America OECD high Best Regulatory & Caribbean income Performance Procedures (number) 17 15.4 12.7 None in 2017/18 Time (days) 94 199.0 153.1 None in 2017/18 Cost (% of warehouse value) 6.9 3.2 1.5 None in 2017/18 Building quality control index (0-15) 10.0 8.9 11.5 15.0 (3 Economies) Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Honduras and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Dealing with Construction Permits Score 0 100 71.05: Costa Rica (Rank: 74) 68.77: Colombia (Rank: 89) 66.10: Honduras (Rank: 116) 64.72: Guatemala (Rank: 122) 63.48: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 51.82: El Salvador (Rank: 173) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of dealing with construction permits is determined by sorting their scores for dealing with construction permits. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Honduras – Procedure, Time and Cost Time (days) Cost (% of warehouse value) 4.5 90 4 80 Cost (% of warehouse value) 3.5 70 3 60 Time (days) 2.5 50 40 2 30 1.5 20 1 10 0.5 0 0 1 *2 *3 *4 *5 6 *7 *8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 * 16 17 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology ). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary below. Page 11 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Honduras and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 15 11.0 11.0 11.0 Index score 10.0 10.0 10 8.9 5 0 Honduras Colombia Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Latin America & Caribbean Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Honduras – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedures Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain results of geotechnical study / soil test 26 days HNL 19,500 Agency : Private licensed company BuildCo will request a soil test for the structural calculations for the foundation. Contractors ask for a soil test to ensure that the foundation of the building is solid. The engineer must understand the suitability of the soil for the proposed construction work. It allows to build a solid foundation and avoid structures to be damaged or collapsed or leaned. Although a soil test is not required by law, it is consistently conducted in practice. 2 Request and obtain environmental approval from Office of Municipal 21 days HNL 6,852 Environmental Development and Management (GMDAM) Agency : Office of Municipal Environmental Development and Management of Municipality of Tegucigalpa (UMA) First, BuildCo's case would be considered by the Office of Municipal Environmental Development and Management. Under a major government initiative, the National Competitiveness Program (Programa Nacional de Competitividad) and the municipality (GMDAM) entered into an agreement with SERNA in 2007. As of September 4, 2008, the Law on Environment was approved, as well as other implementing regulations. Article 78 of the law introduced criteria for different categories of environmental approvals depending on project risks. Commercial warehouses that fit into Category 1 (Article 5) are only subject to environmental control rather than a full scale study at the local level by the Office of Municipal Environmental Development and Management ('UGA' or 'UMA'). The cost according to Article 70 of Plan de Arbitrios is 1% of the construction cost of the value up to HNL 200,000 + 0.50% of the construction cost of the value between HNL 200,001 - 1,000,000 + 0.05% of the construction cost of the value that exceeds HNL 1,000,000. 3 Obtain results of topographical study 11 days HNL 13,000 Agency : Private licensed company A topographical study is conducted prior to construction to measure the levels on the specific terrain. It is a general technical requirement when building a structure of this class. 4 Request and obtain approval for connection to water and sewage from 15 days HNL 750 SANAA Agency : SANAA In the meantime, the committee responsible for approving conditions of water and sewerage connections (utility company) meets once a week. 5 Request and obtain approval (constancia) from Public Works Secretary 7 days HNL 500 (SOPTRAVI) Agency : Public Works Secretary (SOPTRAVI) As part of the Building Permit requisites, BuildCo. also needs to process the public works authorization. In parallel with the water and sewage request, BuildCo. can ask for the approval from the Public Works Secretary (SOPTRAVI). A fee of HNL 300.00 is charged for the approval and a fee of HNL 200.00 for the inspection. 6 Request and obtain rainwater drainage feasibility analysis from SANAA 7 days no charge Agency : SANAA Once the approval has been granted, BuildCo. can pay for the cost of the rainwater drainage feasibility analysis from SANAA. 7 Request and obtain design guidelines and approval of drawings and 3 days HNL 900 designs from Urban Planning Office Agency : Urban Planning Office While asking for the public works authorization, Buildco. must request design guidelines from the Urban Planning Office near the future construction site. Page 12 Doing Business 2019 Honduras 8 Request and obtain proof of land ownership 1 day no charge Agency : Property Registration At the same time, certification that BuildCo owns the land is required. As a result, certification from the Property Registration Agency is asked. 9 Request and obtain location clearances (uso de suelo y factibilidad vial) 2 days HNL 150 from the Municipal Authority Agency : Municipal Authority (Alcaldía Municipal) The following documents must be presented to obtain a certificate of occupancy (Uso de Suelo y Factibilidad Vial) from the Municipality: • Application • Proof of property registration • Designs and drawings • Approvals from the SANAA and the ENEE, and others • Environmental license The new city zoning plan that was introduced in early 2008 is currently being operationalized. One of the main features of the plan is the change of zoning from residential to commercial and its further digitization based on maps from Cadastre and Management Engineering (Engenieria Gerencial). Furthermore, the land use regulations were amended in April 2008, introducing categories based on risk factors. This led to an improvement in the process of obtaining the location clearance, including a time reduction. The application is checked in the back office to verify whether the new land use is compatible with land use regulations. 10 Request and obtain building permit 10 days HNL 110,551 Agency : Municipal Authority (Alcaldía Municipal) The permit application documents are reviewed by the Legal Department, the Technical Department, the Professional College, the Environmental Section, and the Chief of Construction Permits. After submitting the permit application and all other required documents, BuildCo pays the application fee at TASA Municipal. Prior to starting construction, BuildCo must notify the authority. 11 Receive footings and foundations inspection (“inspección de zapatas y 1 day no charge fundaciones”) Agency : Municipal Authority (Alcaldía Municipal) According to the 2010 Building Code of Honduras " Código de Construcción de Honduras" under Section 109, BuildCo is obliged to receive footing and foundations inspection. This inspection should be made after excavations for footings are complete and all reinforcing steel are in place. "Las inspecciones de zapatas y fundaciones deben realizarse luego de que las excavaciones para zapatas estén completas y todos los aceros de refuerzo estén colocados." 12 Receive inspection upon pouring of concrete slabs (“inspección de losas y 1 day no charge contrapisos de concreto”) Agency : Municipal Authority (Alcaldía Municipal) According to the 2010 Building Code of Honduras " Código de Construcción de Honduras" under Section 109, BuildCo is obliged to receive inspection upon pouring of concrete slabs. This inspection must be performed after the steel reinforcement of the slab or subfloor and building service equipment, conduit, piping accessories and other ancillary equipment items are in place, but before any concrete is placed or the stage floor is installed, including the primary flooring. "Las inspecciones de losas y contrapisos de concreto deben realizarse despues de que el acero de refuerzo de las losa o contrapiso y los equipos de servicio del edificio, conductos, accesorios de tuberias y otros elementos de equipos auxiliares esten en su lugar, pero antes de que cualquier concreto sea colocado o se instale el tablado del piso, incluyendo el entarimado primario." 13 Receive structure inspection (“inspección de estructuras”) 1 day no charge Agency : Municipal Authority (Alcaldía Municipal) According to the 2010 Building Code of Honduras " Código de Construcción de Honduras" under Section 109, BuildCo is obliged to receive structure inspection. This inspection must be made after the roof deck or sheathing, all structure, fire fighting locked and braces are in place and pipes, chimneys and vents that need to be concealed are complete and the rough work of the cables , plumbing and electrical, hydraulic and sanitary and heating ducts are approved. "Las inspecciones de estructuras deben realizarse después que la cubierta o entablado del techo, toda la estructura, los bloqueados antifuegos y los arriostramientos estén en su lugar y las tuberías, chimeneas y ventilaciones que deban ser ocultados estén completos y la obra gruesa de los cables, tuberías y conductos eléctricos, hidráulicos y sanitarios y de calefacción estén aprobados." 14 Receive on-site inspection from Fire Department after construction 1 day no charge Agency : Fire Department According to the 2010 Building Code of Honduras " Código de Construcción de Honduras" under Section 109, BuildCo is obliged to receive Fire Department inspection. Page 13 Doing Business 2019 Honduras 15 Receive connection to water and sewage from SANAA 15 days HNL 30,888 Agency : SANAA After all the required inspection have been conducted, BuildCo. can receive the utilities connections. Receive final inspection 1 day no charge 16 Agency : Municipal Authority (Alcaldía Municipal) According to the 2010 Building Code of Honduras " Código de Construcción de Honduras" under Section 109, BuildCo is obliged to receive a final inspection. The final inspection must be made after all work required by the building permit is finished. 17 Register building at Real Estate Registry 30 days HNL 4,478 Agency : Real Estate Registry (Registro de Bienes Raíces) The last step that BuildCo. has to do is the registration of the warehouse. Reforms and optimization of electronic processing have significantly decreased the time to register property. However, in 2009 due to an administrative backlog and delays with the registration process, the procedure for registration of a building is now taking on average 30 days. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Page 14 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Honduras – Measure of Quality Answer Score Building quality control index (0-15) 10.0 Quality of building regulations index (0-2) 1.0 How accessible are building laws and regulations in your economy? (0-1) They must be 0.0 purchased; Not easily accessible. Which requirements for obtaining a building permit are clearly specified in the building List of required 1.0 regulations or on any accessible website, brochure or pamphlet? (0-1) documents; Fees to be paid; Required preapprovals. Quality control before construction index (0-1) 1.0 Which third-party entities are required by law to verify that the building plans are in Licensed 1.0 compliance with existing building regulations? (0-1) architect; Licensed engineer. Quality control during construction index (0-3) 2.0 What types of inspections (if any) are required by law to be carried out during construction? Inspections by in- 1.0 (0-2) house engineer; Inspections at various phases. Do legally mandated inspections occur in practice during construction? (0-1) Mandatory 1.0 inspections are always done in practice. Quality control after construction index (0-3) 3.0 Is there a final inspection required by law to verify that the building was built in accordance Yes, final 2.0 with the approved plans and regulations? (0-2) inspection is done by government agency; Yes, in- house engineer submits report for final inspection. Do legally mandated final inspections occur in practice? (0-1) Final inspection 1.0 always occurs in practice. Liability and insurance regimes index (0-2) 1.0 Which parties (if any) are held liable by law for structural flaws or problems in the building Architect or 1.0 once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability or Decennial Liability)? (0-1) engineer; Professional in charge of the supervision; Construction company; Owner or investor. Which parties (if any) are required by law to obtain an insurance policy to cover possible No party is 0.0 structural flaws or problems in the building once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability Insurance required by law or Decennial Insurance)? (0-1) to obtain insurance . Professional certifications index (0-4) 2.0 What are the qualification requirements for the professional responsible for verifying that the University degree 1.0 architectural plans or drawings are in compliance with existing building regulations? (0-2) in architecture or engineering; Being a registered architect or engineer. Page 15 Doing Business 2019 Honduras What are the qualification requirements for the professional who supervises the construction University degree 1.0 on the ground? (0-2) in engineering, construction or construction management; Being a registered architect or engineer. Page 16 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Getting Electricity This topic measures the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse. Additionally, the reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index measures reliability of supply, transparency of tariffs and the price of electricity. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to obtain an electricity connection To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the (number) warehouse, the electricity connection and the monthly consumption are used. • Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining The warehouse: all necessary clearances and permits - Is owned by a local entrepreneur and is used for storage of goods. • Completing all required notifications and - Is located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are receiving all necessary inspections also collected for the second largest business city. • Obtaining external installation works and possibly - Is located in an area where similar warehouses are typically located and is in an purchasing material for these works area with no physical constraints. For example, the property is not near a railway. - Is a new construction and is being connected to electricity for the first time. • Concluding any necessary supply contract and - Has two stories with a total surface area of approximately 1,300.6 square meters obtaining final supply (14,000 square feet). The plot of land on which it is built is 929 square meters Time required to complete each procedure (10,000 square feet). (calendar days) The electricity connection: • Is at least 1 calendar day - Is a permanent one with a three-phase, four-wire Y connection with a subscribed • Each procedure starts on a separate day capacity of 140-kilo-volt-ampere (kVA) with a power factor of 1, when 1 kVA = 1 • Does not include time spent gathering kilowatt (kW). information - Has a length of 150 meters. The connection is to either the low- or medium-voltage distribution network and is either overhead or underground, whichever is more • Reflects the time spent in practice, with little common in the area where the warehouse is located and requires works that involve follow-up and no prior contact with officials the crossing of a 10-meter road (such as by excavation or overhead lines) but are all Cost required to complete each procedure (% of carried out on public land. There is no crossing of other owners’ private property because the warehouse has access to a road. income per capita) - Does not require work to install the internal wiring of the warehouse. This has • Official costs only, no bribes already been completed up to and including the customer’s service panel or • Value added tax excluded switchboard and the meter base. The reliability of supply and transparency of The monthly consumption: tariffs index (0-8) - It is assumed that the warehouse operates 30 days a month from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 • Duration and frequency of power outages (0–3) p.m. (8 hours a day), with equipment utilized at 80% of capacity on average and that • Tools to monitor power outages (0–1) there are no electricity cuts (assumed for simplicity reasons) and the monthly energy consumption is 26,880 kilowatt-hours (kWh); hourly consumption is 112 kWh. • Tools to restore power supply (0–1) - If multiple electricity suppliers exist, the warehouse is served by the cheapest • Regulatory monitoring of utilities’ performance supplier. (0–1) - Tariffs effective in January of the current year are used for calculation of the price of electricity for the warehouse. Although January has 31 days, for calculation • Financial deterrents limiting outages (0–1) purposes only 30 days are used. • Transparency and accessibility of tariffs (0–1) Price of electricity (cents per kilowatt-hour)* • Price based on monthly bill for commercial warehouse in case study *Note: Doing Business measures the price of electricity, but it is not included in the ease of doing business score nor the ranking on the ease of getting electricity. Page 17 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Getting Electricity - Honduras Standardized Connection Price of electricity (US cents per kWh) 17.2 Name of utility Empresa Nacional de Energia Electrica (ENEE) City Covered Tegucigalpa Indicator Honduras Latin America OECD high Best Regulatory & Caribbean income Performance Procedures (number) 7 5.5 4.5 3 (25 Economies) Time (days) 39 65.5 77.2 18 (3 Economies) Cost (% of income per capita) 735 946.3 64.2 0.0 (3 Economies) Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff 0 4.3 7.5 8.0 (27 Economies) index (0-8) Figure – Getting Electricity in Honduras and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Getting Electricity Score 0 100 85.10: Costa Rica (Rank: 38) 84.12: Guatemala (Rank: 44) 75.77: Colombia (Rank: 80) 71.24: El Salvador (Rank: 97) 70.59: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 53.78: Honduras (Rank: 153) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting electricity is determined by sorting their scores for getting electricity. These scores are the simple average of the scores for all the component indicators except the price of electricity. Page 18 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Figure – Getting Electricity in Honduras – Procedure, Time and Cost Time (days) Cost (% of income per capita) 700 35 600 Cost (% of income per capita) 30 500 25 Time (days) 400 20 300 15 200 10 5 100 0 0 1 *2 *3 4 5 6 7 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology ). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary below. Figure – Getting Electricity in Honduras and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 8 7 7 7 6 6 6 Index score 5 4.3 4 3 2 1 0 0 Honduras Colombia Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Latin America & Caribbean Page 19 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Details – Getting Electricity in Honduras – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedures Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Hire certified electrical engineer to design external connection and submit 17 calendar days HNL 5,900 design for approval Agency : Electrical Engineer member of the Colegio de Ingenieros mecanicos, electricos y quimicos de Honduras (CIMEQH) An electrical engineer employed by CIMEQH estimates the power needed for the project and designs the external connection. For loads greater than 1,000 kVA, the engineer should go first to Empresa Nacional de Energia Electrica (ENEE) to request a feasibility study. In a case where the load is 140kVA, this procedure is not necessary. The design and the process of obtaining ENEE's review can only be made by an electrical engineer authorized by the CIMEQH. The electrical engineer must obtain a certificate by the College for each design that he files with ENEE. The certificate states that the engineer is a member of the College and has paid his contributions. It is recommended that the internal wiring installation be also done by a CIMEQH's electrical engineer. Although the internal installation plans are reviewed by the Municipality and the Firefighters, in the context of the process to obtain a building permit, the final internal installation is not reviewed. One way to ensure the quality of the internal installation is to hire an engineer authorized by CIMEQH for the installation. In the case of a fire due to a malfunctioning installation, it is easier to obtain legal satisfaction if it was performed by a member of CIMEQH. After having prepared the design, the engineer has to file the certificate with the Empresa Nacional de Energia Electrica (ENEE). ENEE reviews the certificate issued by the College to determine whether it meets ENEE's standards. ENEE also inspects the site. Finally, ENEE approves the design. 2 Request certificate of good standing for electrical engineer 1 calendar day HNL 360 Agency : Colegio ingeniero Mecánicos, Electricista y Químicos de Honduras (CIMEQH) The electrical engineer must obtain a certificate by the College for each design that he presents to the Empresa Nacional de Energia Electrica (ENEE). The certificate states that the engineer is a member of the College and has paid his contributions. 3 Receive site inspection by utility (ENEE) 1 calendar day HNL 0 Agency : Empresa Nacional de Energia Electrica (ENEE) To prepare the design a site visit is conducted. 4 Obtain permit from municipality to cross cables in public property 7 calendar days HNL 15 Agency : Municipality of Tegucigalpa Before to request this permit, the customer has to have the approval of the plans by the utility (ENEE). The costs are calculated assuming that the wires are crossed over public roads. If the connection is underground, a permit to break tracks is needed and the cost will depend on the material used (asphalt, cement, sand, etc.) 5 Await completion of external works by electrical engineer 7 calendar days HNL 359,625 Agency : Electrical Engineer member of the Colegio de Ingenieros mecanicos, electricos y quimicos de Honduras (CIMEQH) Three transformers 50kVA or one transformer of 150kVA must be installed. Empresa Nacional de Energia Electrica conducts an inspection of the external connection to ensure that the implementation is according to the approved design. If the reviewer disagrees with the implementation, the responsible electrician has to make the corrections. Page 20 Doing Business 2019 Honduras 6 Submit application to ENEE, pay security deposit and request meter 1 calendar day HNL 15,861.75 installation Agency : Empresa Nacional de Energia Electrica (ENEE) The following documents are required with the application (no notarization of the documents is needed): • A copy of the company's by-laws; • photocopy of the ID of the person authorized by the by-laws; • Sketch / map of where is the warehouse (address). It is necessary to pay a deposit of guarantee or consumption (Article 32 of the Act that rules the electrical sector): Lps.845.96 per KVA. It may be in cash or bank guarantee. Reason: to ensure the payment of consumption ENEE charges after providing the service). The deposit is made via a certified check payable to ENEE and / or bank guarantee in the name of ENEE and it is paid in ENEE's commercial division. The division issues a memorandum to the customer care unit for them to fill in the client's appropriate data to install the meter. At this time if the person authorized to submit the application has to submit the following additional information • To whose name the bills will be sent • The firm's company registration number • Copy of the property title or the lease agreement certified by the municipality. • Copy of the ID of the person that will sign the documents. • Document specifying that the person who will sign the documents is duly authorized by the board of directors. • The security deposit 7 Receive final inspection and meter installation by Empresa Energia 7 calendar days HNL 15,700 Honduras (EEH) Agency : Empresa Energia Honduras (EEH) Once the application goes to the "Department of High Consumption", the Department sends an engineer to the site to install the meter. Once the meter is installed, the energy flows. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Page 21 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Details – Getting Electricity in Honduras – Measure of Quality Answer Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index (0-8) 0 Total duration and frequency of outages per customer a year (0-3) 0 System average interruption duration index (SAIDI) 267.0 System average interruption frequency index (SAIFI) 22.0 What is the minimum outage time (in minutes) that the utility considers for the calculation of SAIDI/SAIFI 5.0 Mechanisms for monitoring outages (0-1) 0 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to monitor outages? No Mechanisms for restoring service (0-1) 0 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to restore service? No Regulatory monitoring (0-1) 0 Does a regulator—that is, an entity separate from the utility—monitor the utility’s performance on reliability of No supply? Financial deterrents aimed at limiting outages (0-1) 0 Does the utility either pay compensation to customers or face fines by the regulator (or both) if outages No exceed a certain cap? Communication of tariffs and tariff changes (0-1) 1 Are effective tariffs available online? Yes Link to the website, if available online https://www.eeh.hn/e s/ipaginas/ver/G83/5 5/tarifas-de-energia/ Are customers notified of a change in tariff ahead of the billing cycle? Yes Note: If the duration and frequency of outages is 100 or less, the economy is eligible to score on the Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index. If the duration and frequency of outages is not available, or is over 100, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. If the minimum outage time considered for SAIDI/SAIFI is over 5 minutes, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. Page 22 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Registering Property This topic examines the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute. In addition, the topic also measures the quality of the land administration system in each economy. The quality of land administration index has five dimensions: reliability of infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, land dispute resolution, and equal access to property rights. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally transfer title on To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the immovable property (number) parties to the transaction, the property and the procedures are used. • Preregistration procedures (for example, The parties (buyer and seller): checking for liens, notarizing sales agreement, paying property transfer taxes) - Are limited liability companies (or the legal equivalent). - Are located in the periurban area of the economy’s largest business city. For 11 • Registration procedures in the economy's largest economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. business city. - Are 100% domestically and privately owned. • Postregistration procedures (for example, filling - Have 50 employees each, all of whom are nationals. title with municipality) - Perform general commercial activities. Time required to complete each procedure The property (fully owned by the seller): (calendar days) - Has a value of 50 times income per capita, which equals the sale price. • Does not include time spent gathering - Is fully owned by the seller. information - Has no mortgages attached and has been under the same ownership for the past • Each procedure starts on a separate day - 10 years. though procedures that can be fully completed - Is registered in the land registry or cadastre, or both, and is free of title disputes. online are an exception to this rule - Is located in a periurban commercial zone, and no rezoning is required. - Consists of land and a building. The land area is 557.4 square meters (6,000 • Procedure is considered completed once final square feet). A two-story warehouse of 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) is document is received located on the land. The warehouse is 10 years old, is in good condition, has no • No prior contact with officials heating system and complies with all safety standards, building codes and legal requirements. The property, consisting of land and building, will be transferred in its Cost required to complete each procedure (% of entirety. property value) - Will not be subject to renovations or additional construction following the purchase. • Official costs only (such as administrative fees, - Has no trees, natural water sources, natural reserves or historical monuments of duties and taxes). any kind. - Will not be used for special purposes, and no special permits, such as for • Value Added Tax, Capital Gains Tax and illicit residential use, industrial plants, waste storage or certain types of agricultural payments are excluded activities, are required. - Has no occupants, and no other party holds a legal interest in it. Quality of land administration index (0-30) • Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) • Transparency of information index (0–6) • Geographic coverage index (0–8) • Land dispute resolution index (0–8) • Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) Page 23 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Registering Property - Honduras Indicator Honduras Latin America OECD high Best Regulatory & Caribbean income Performance Procedures (number) 6 7.2 4.7 1 (4 Economies) Time (days) 29 63.3 20.1 1 (New Zealand) Cost (% of property value) 5.7 5.8 4.2 0.0 (Saudi Arabia) Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 14.0 11.9 23.0 None in 2017/18 Figure – Registering Property in Honduras and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Registering Property Score 0 100 74.36: Costa Rica (Rank: 47) 71.22: Colombia (Rank: 59) 66.32: El Salvador (Rank: 73) 64.90: Guatemala (Rank: 86) 63.43: Honduras (Rank: 95) 55.25: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of registering property is determined by sorting their scores for registering property. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Registering Property in Honduras – Procedure, Time and Cost Time (days) Cost (% of property value) 4.5 4 25 Cost (% of property value) 3.5 20 3 Time (days) 2.5 15 2 10 1.5 1 5 0.5 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology ). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary below. Page 24 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Figure – Registering Property in Honduras and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 30 25 Index score 20 17.5 16.5 15 14.0 14.0 13.5 11.9 10 5 0 Honduras Colombia Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Latin America & Caribbean Details – Registering Property in Honduras – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedures Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Verification of property background 1 day HNL 500; (HNL 500 Agency : El Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble (HNL 300 for full It is necessary to have the previous registration numbers to check: (i) who are the owners; certificate (ii) if there have been any mortgages; or (iii) if the property has been sold. The buyer can “certificación integra” verify the property background at the on-line Unified Registry System (SURE): + HNL 200 for non- http://www.ip.gob.hn/ (http://www.sinap.hn/). However, in practice there are many encumbrance problems with the SURE, so users tend to go to the registry. certificate “certificado de libertad de gravamen”)) 2 Verification that the municipal taxes have been paid 2 days no charge Agency : Dirección General de Catastro y Geografía (Alcaldia Municipal) The municipal tax number of the property is needed to check who is the registered owner of the land in the cadastre. 3 The notary issues the deed (preliminary) 2 days HNL 108,155.85; Agency : Notary (between 3% and 5% After getting the legal documentation from the parties, the notary issues the preliminary of property value deed (“escritura matriz”). Notary’s fees are usually calculated based on the market value (Notary’s fees)) of the property according to regulations setting minimum tariffs. For properties with a value below HNL 25,000, the rate cannot be below HNL 1,000 while for properties with a higher value, the fee cannot be below 3% of the property value. Fees are negotiated between the notary and parties. 4 Payment at the bank of taxes and fees 1 day HNL 40,558.44; Agency : Commercial Bank (1.5% of property The transfer tax (1.5% of the property value, for an urban property with improvements) value (Transfer Tax)) must be paid at a bank. The taxes are calculated based on either the official value of the property (determined by the Cadastre for tax purposes) or the insured value, whichever is higher. With the introduction of the Property Law in 2004, the transfer tax was cut from 3% to 1.5%, the registration rights and the stamps were eliminated. 5 Registration at the Property registry 21 days HNL 4,254.5; (HNL Agency : Property registry (“El Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble el cual 200 for the first HNL depende del Instituto de Propiedad”) 1,000 of the property The new deed must be registered in the Property Office by the notary. However, the value, and HNL 1.50 notary might waive this right and leave to the responsibility of the applicants. for each additional HNL 1,000) 6 Register the change of ownership in the Cadastre office 2 days HNL 250 Agency : Dirección General de Catastro y Geografía The change of ownership must be registered in the Cadaster office ("Dirección General de Catastro y Geografía") by the notary or the buyer. The deed duly registered in Procedure 6 must be presented at the cadaster. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Page 25 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Details – Registering Property in Honduras – Measure of Quality Answer Score Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) 4.0 What is the institution in charge of immovable property registration? Immovable Property Registry ("Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble") In what format are the majority of title or deed records kept in the largest business city—in a Computer/Scann 1.0 paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? ed Is there an electronic database for checking for encumbrances (liens, mortgages, restrictions Yes 1.0 and the like)? Institution in charge of the plans showing legal boundaries in the largest business city: Cadastre ("Dirección General de Catastro y Geografía en el Instituto de la Propiedad") In what format are the majority of maps of land plots kept in the largest business city—in a Computer/Scann 1.0 paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? ed Is there an electronic database for recording boundaries, checking plans and providing No 0.0 cadastral information (geographic information system)? Is the information recorded by the immovable property registration agency and the cadastral Different 1.0 or mapping agency kept in a single database, in different but linked databases or in separate databases but databases? linked Do the immovable property registration agency and cadastral or mapping agency use the No 0.0 same identification number for properties? Transparency of information index (0–6) 4.0 Who is able to obtain information on land ownership at the agency in charge of immovable Freely accessible 1.0 property registration in the largest business city? by anyone Is the list of documents that are required to complete any type of property transaction made Yes, online 0.5 publicly available–and if so, how? Link for online access: http://www.ip.gob .hn/sites/default/fi les/proceso_vent anilla_multiple.pd f Is the applicable fee schedule for any property transaction at the agency in charge of Yes, online 0.5 immovable property registration in the largest business city made publicly available–and if so, how? Link for online access: http://www.ip.gob .hn/tasas_pago Does the agency in charge of immovable property registration commit to delivering a legally No 0.0 binding document that proves property ownership within a specific time frame–and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? Link for online access: Is there a specific and separate mechanism for filing complaints about a problem that Yes 1.0 occurred at the agency in charge of immovable property registration? Contact information: Are there publicly available official statistics tracking the number of transactions at the No 0.0 immovable property registration agency? Number of property transfers in the largest business city in 2017: Page 26 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Who is able to consult maps of land plots in the largest business city? Anyone who 0.5 pays the official fee Is the applicable fee schedule for accessing maps of land plots made publicly available— Yes, online 0.5 and if so, how? Link for online access: Does the cadastral or mapping agency commit to delivering an updated map within a No 0.0 specific time frame—and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? Link for online access: Is there a specific and separate mechanism for filing complaints about a problem that No 0.0 occurred at the cadastral or mapping agency? Contact information: Geographic coverage index (0–8) 0.0 Are all privately held land plots in the economy formally registered at the immovable property No 0.0 registry? Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city formally registered at the No 0.0 immovable property registry? Are all privately held land plots in the economy mapped? No 0.0 Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city mapped? No 0.0 Land dispute resolution index (0–8) 6.0 Does the law require that all property sale transactions be registered at the immovable Yes 1.5 property registry to make them opposable to third parties? Is the system of immovable property registration subject to a state or private guarantee? Yes 0.5 Is there a specific compensation mechanism to cover for losses incurred by parties who No 0.0 engaged in good faith in a property transaction based on erroneous information certified by the immovable property registry? Does the legal system require a control of legality of the documents necessary for a property Yes 0.5 transaction (e.g., checking the compliance of contracts with requirements of the law)? If yes, who is responsible for checking the legality of the documents? Registrar; Notary; Does the legal system require verification of the identity of the parties to a property Yes 0.5 transaction? If yes, who is responsible for verifying the identity of the parties? Notary; Is there a national database to verify the accuracy of identity documents? Yes 1.0 For a standard land dispute between two local businesses over tenure rights of a property El juzgado de worth 50 times gross national income (GNI) per capita and located in the largest business Letras de lo Civil city, what court would be in charge of the case in the first instance? How long does it take on average to obtain a decision from the first-instance court for such a Between 1 and 2 2.0 case (without appeal)? years Are there any statistics on the number of land disputes in the first instance? No 0.0 Number of land disputes in the largest business city in 2017: Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) 0.0 Do unmarried men and unmarried women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes Do married men and married women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes 0.0 Page 27 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Getting Credit This topic explores two sets of issues—the strength of credit reporting systems and the effectiveness of collateral and bankruptcy laws in facilitating lending. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Strength of legal rights index (0–12) Doing Business assesses the sharing of credit information and the legal rights of borrowers and lenders with respect to secured transactions through 2 sets of • Rights of borrowers and lenders through indicators. The depth of credit information index measures rules and practices collateral laws (0-10) affecting the coverage, scope and accessibility of credit information available • Protection of secured creditors’ rights through through a credit registry or a credit bureau. The strength of legal rights index bankruptcy laws (0-2) measures the degree to which collateral and bankruptcy laws protect the rights of borrowers and lenders and thus facilitate lending. For each economy it is first Depth of credit information index (0–8) determined whether a unitary secured transactions system exists. Then two case • Scope and accessibility of credit information scenarios, case A and case B, are used to determine how a nonpossessory security distributed by credit bureaus and credit registries interest is created, publicized and enforced according to the law. Special emphasis (0-8) is given to how the collateral registry operates (if registration of security interests is possible). The case scenarios involve a secured borrower, company ABC, and a Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) secured lender, BizBank. • Number of individuals and firms listed in largest In some economies the legal framework for secured transactions will allow only case credit bureau as a percentage of adult population A or case B (not both) to apply. Both cases examine the same set of legal provisions Credit registry coverage (% of adults) relating to the use of movable collateral. • Number of individuals and firms listed in credit Several assumptions about the secured borrower (ABC) and lender (BizBank) registry as a percentage of adult population are used: - ABC is a domestic limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). - ABC has up to 50 employees. - ABC has its headquarters and only base of operations in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. - Both ABC and BizBank are 100% domestically owned. The case scenarios also involve assumptions. In case A, as collateral for the loan, ABC grants BizBank a nonpossessory security interest in one category of movable assets, for example, its machinery or its inventory. ABC wants to keep both possession and ownership of the collateral. In economies where the law does not allow nonpossessory security interests in movable property, ABC and BizBank use a fiduciary transfer-of-title arrangement (or a similar substitute for nonpossessory security interests). In case B, ABC grants BizBank a business charge, enterprise charge, floating charge or any charge that gives BizBank a security interest over ABC’s combined movable assets (or as much of ABC’s movable assets as possible). ABC keeps ownership and possession of the assets. Page 28 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Getting Credit - Honduras Indicator Honduras Latin America OECD high Best Regulatory & Caribbean income Performance Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 9 5.4 6.1 12 (5 Economies) Depth of credit information index (0-8) 8 4.9 6.7 8 (42 Economies) Credit registry coverage (% of adults) 21.2 14.6 21.8 100.0 (4 Economies) Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) 47.4 44.5 65.3 100.0 (25 Economies) Figure – Getting Credit in Honduras and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Getting Credit Score 0 100 95.00: Colombia (Rank: 3) 85.00: Costa Rica (Rank: 12) 85.00: Honduras (Rank: 12) 80.00: Guatemala (Rank: 22) 80.00: El Salvador (Rank: 22) 51.56: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting credit is determined by sorting their scores for getting credit. These scores are the sum of the scores for the strength of legal rights index and the depth of credit information index. Figure – Legal Rights in Honduras and comparator economies 9 12 10 9 9 8 7 6 5.4 Index Score 5 4 3 2 1 0 Honduras Colombia Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Latin America & Caribbean Page 29 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Details – Legal Rights in Honduras Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 9 Does an integrated or unified legal framework for secured transactions that extends to the creation, publicity and Yes enforcement of functional equivalents to security interests in movable assets exist in the economy? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in a single category of movable assets, without Yes requiring a specific description of collateral? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in substantially all of its assets, without requiring a Yes specific description of collateral? May a security right extend to future or after-acquired assets, and does it extend automatically to the products, proceeds and Yes replacements of the original assets? Is a general description of debts and obligations permitted in collateral agreements; can all types of debts and obligations be Yes secured between parties; and can the collateral agreement include a maximum amount for which the assets are encumbered? Is a collateral registry in operation for both incorporated and non-incorporated entities, that is unified geographically and by Yes asset type, with an electronic database indexed by debtor's name? Does a notice-based collateral registry exist in which all functional equivalents can be registered? Yes Does a modern collateral registry exist in which registrations, amendments, cancellations and searches can be performed Yes online by any interested third party? Are secured creditors paid first (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a debtor defaults outside an insolvency No procedure? Are secured creditors paid first (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a business is liquidated? No Are secured creditors subject to an automatic stay on enforcement when a debtor enters a court-supervised reorganization No procedure? Does the law protect secured creditors’ rights by providing clear grounds for relief from the stay and sets a time limit for it? Does the law allow parties to agree on out of court enforcement at the time a security interest is created? Does the law allow Yes the secured creditor to sell the collateral through public auction or private tender, as well as, for the secured creditor to keep the asset in satisfaction of the debt? Figure – Credit Information in Honduras and comparator economies 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 6 Index Score 4.9 5 4 3 2 1 0 Honduras Colombia Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Latin America & Caribbean Page 30 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Details – Credit Information in Honduras Depth of credit information index (0-8) Credit Credit Score bureau registry Are data on both firms and individuals distributed? Yes Yes 1 Are both positive and negative credit data distributed? Yes Yes 1 Are data from retailers or utility companies - in addition to data from banks and Yes No 1 financial institutions - distributed? Are at least 2 years of historical data distributed? (Credit bureaus and registries Yes Yes 1 that distribute more than 10 years of negative data or erase data on defaults as soon as they are repaid obtain a score of 0 for this component.) Are data on loan amounts below 1% of income per capita distributed? Yes Yes 1 By law, do borrowers have the right to access their data in the credit bureau or Yes Yes 1 credit registry? Can banks and financial institutions access borrowers’ credit information online Yes Yes 1 (for example, through an online platform, a system-to-system connection or both)? Are bureau or registry credit scores offered as a value-added service to help Yes No 1 banks and financial institutions assess the creditworthiness of borrowers? Total Score ("yes" to either public bureau or private registry) 8 Note: An economy receives a score of 1 if there is a "yes" to either bureau or registry. If the credit bureau or registry is not operational or covers less than 5% of the adult population, the total score on the depth of credit information index is 0. Coverage Credit bureau Credit registry Number of individuals 2,776,438 1,241,165 Number of firms 21,955 12,454 Total 2,798,393 1,253,619 Percentage of adult population 47.4 21.2 Page 31 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Protecting Minority Investors This topic measures the strength of minority shareholder protections against misuse of corporate assets by directors for their personal gain as well as shareholder rights, governance safeguards and corporate transparency requirements that reduce the risk of abuse. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions • Extent of disclosure index (0–10): Review and To make the data comparable across economies, a case study uses several approval requirements for related-party assumptions about the business and the transaction. transactions; Disclosure requirements for related- party transactions The business (Buyer): • Extent of director liability index (0–10): Ability - Is a publicly traded corporation listed on the economy’s most important stock of minority shareholders to sue and hold exchange. If there are fewer than ten listed companies or if there is no stock interested directors liable for prejudicial related- exchange in the economy, it is assumed that Buyer is a large private company with party transactions; Available legal remedies multiple shareholders. (damages, disgorgement of profits, fines, - Has a board of directors and a chief executive officer (CEO) who may legally act on imprisonment, rescission of the transaction) behalf of Buyer where permitted, even if this is not specifically required by law. • Ease of shareholder suits index (0–10): - Has a supervisory board in economies with a two-tier board system on which Mr. Access to internal corporate documents; James appointed 60% of the shareholder-elected members. Evidence obtainable during trial and allocation of - Has not adopted bylaws or articles of association that go beyond the minimum legal expenses requirements. Does not follow codes, principles, recommendations or guidelines that are not mandatory. • Extent of conflict of interest regulation index - Is a manufacturing company with its own distribution network. (0–10): Simple average of the extent of disclosure, extent of director liability and ease of The transaction involves the following details: shareholder indices - Mr. James owns 60% of Buyer, sits on Buyer’s board of directors and elected two • Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10): directors to Buyer’s five-member board. Shareholders’ rights and role in major corporate - Mr. James also owns 90% of Seller, a company that operates a chain of retail decisions hardware stores. Seller recently closed a large number of its stores. • Extent of ownership and control index (0-10): - Mr. James proposes that Buyer purchase Seller’s unused fleet of trucks to expand Governance safeguards protecting shareholders Buyer’s distribution of its food products, a proposal to which Buyer agrees. The price from undue board control and entrenchment is equal to 10% of Buyer’s assets and is higher than the market value. - The proposed transaction is part of the company’s principal activity and is not • Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10): outside the authority of the company. Corporate transparency on ownership stakes, - Buyer enters into the transaction. All required approvals are obtained, and all compensation, audits and financial prospects required disclosures made—that is, the transaction was not entered into fraudulently. • Extent of shareholder governance index (0– - The transaction causes damages to Buyer. Shareholders sue Mr. James and the 10): Simple average of the extent of shareholders executives and directors that approved the transaction. rights, extent of ownership and control and extent of corporate transparency indices • Strength of minority investor protection index (0–10): Simple average of the extent of conflict of interest regulation and extent of shareholder governance indices Page 32 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Protecting Minority Investors - Honduras Indicator Honduras Latin America OECD high Best Regulatory & Caribbean income Performance Extent of disclosure index (0-10) 3.0 4.1 6.5 10 (13 Economies) Extent of director liability index (0-10) 8.0 5.2 5.3 10 (Cambodia) Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) 6.0 6.7 7.3 10 (Djibouti) Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10) 5.0 5.4 6.4 10 (Kazakhstan) Extent of ownership and control index (0-10) 1.0 3.2 5.4 None in 2017/18 Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10) 2.0 3.9 7.6 10 (6 Economies) Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Honduras and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Protecting Minority Investors Score 0 100 75.00: Colombia (Rank: 15) 48.33: Costa Rica (Rank: 122) 47.50: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 41.67: Honduras (Rank: 140) 38.33: El Salvador (Rank: 161) 31.67: Guatemala (Rank: 174) Note: The ranking of economies on the strength of minority investor protections is determined by sorting their scores for protecting minority investors. These scores are the simple average of the scores for the extent of conflict of interest regulation index and the extent of shareholder governance index. Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Honduras and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Honduras 2 8 3 1 5 6 Colombia 6 7 9 9 6 8 Costa Rica 3 5 5 4 4 8 El Salvador 6 0 3 1 6 7 Guatemala 3 2 3 1 5 5 OECD high income 7.4 5.5 6.5 5.2 6.3 7.4 Latin America & Caribbean 4.2 5.4 4.4 3.5 5.6 6.5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 Sub-Indicator Score Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10) Extent of director liability index (0-10) Extent of disclosure index (0-10) Extent of ownership and control index (0-10) Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10) Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) Page 33 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Details – Protecting Minority Investors in Honduras – Measure of Quality Answer Score Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0-10) 5.7 Extent of disclosure index (0-10) 3.0 Whose decision is sufficient to approve the Buyer-Seller transaction? (0-3) Shareholders 3.0 excluding interested parties Must an external body review the terms of the transaction before it takes place? (0-1) No 0.0 Must Mr. James disclose his conflict of interest to the board of directors? (0-2) No disclosure 0.0 obligation Must Buyer disclose the transaction in periodic filings (e.g. annual reports)? (0-2) No disclosure 0.0 obligation Must Buyer immediately disclose the transaction to the public? (0-2) No disclosure 0.0 obligation Extent of director liability index (0-10) 8.0 Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital sue for the damage the Yes 1.0 transaction caused to Buyer? (0-1) Can shareholders hold Mr. James liable for the damage the transaction caused to Buyer? (0- Liable if negligent 1.0 2) Can shareholders hold the other directors liable for the damage the transaction caused to Liable if negligent 1.0 Buyer (0-2) Must Mr. James pay damages for the harm caused to Buyer upon a successful claim by Yes 1.0 shareholders? (0-1) Must Mr. James repay profits made from the transaction upon a successful claim by Yes 1.0 shareholders? (0-1) Is Mr. James disqualified upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-1) Yes 1.0 Can a court void the transaction upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-2) Voidable if unfair 2.0 or prejudicial Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) 6.0 Before suing, can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital inspect the Yes 1.0 transaction documents? (0-1) Can the plaintiff obtain any documents from the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-3) Any relevant 3.0 document Can the plaintiff request categories of documents from the defendant without identifying No 0.0 specific ones? (0-1) Can the plaintiff directly question the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-2) Preapproved 1.0 questions only Is the level of proof required for civil suits lower than that of criminal cases? (0-1) No 0.0 Can shareholder plaintiffs recover their legal expenses from the company? (0-2) Yes if successful 1.0 Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 2.7 Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10) 5.0 Does the sale of 51% of Buyer's assets require shareholder approval? No 0.0 Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital call for a meeting of No 0.0 shareholders? Must Buyer obtain its shareholders’ approval every time it issues new shares? Yes 1.0 Do shareholders automatically receive preemption rights every time Buyer issues new Yes 1.0 shares? Must shareholders approve the election and dismissal of the external auditor? No 0.0 Page 34 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Are changes to the rights of a class of shares only possible if the holders of the affected Yes 1.0 shares approve? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, does the sale of 51% of its assets require No 0.0 member approval? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, can members representing 10% call for a No 0.0 meeting of members? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must all or almost all members consent to add a Yes 1.0 new member? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must a member first offer to sell their interest to Yes 1.0 the existing members before they can sell to non-members? Extent of ownership and control index (0-10) 1.0 Is it forbidden to appoint the same individual as CEO and chairperson of the board of No 0.0 directors? Must the board of directors include independent and nonexecutive board members? No 0.0 Can shareholders remove members of the board of directors without cause before the end Yes 1.0 of their term? Must the board of directors include a separate audit committee exclusively comprising board No 0.0 members? Must a potential acquirer make a tender offer to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% of No 0.0 Buyer? Must Buyer pay declared dividends within a maximum period set by law? No 0.0 Is a subsidiary prohibited from acquiring shares issued by its parent company? No 0.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer have a mechanism to resolve No 0.0 disagreements among members? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must a potential acquirer make a tender offer to No 0.0 all shareholders upon acquiring 50% of Buyer? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer distribute profits within a maximum No 0.0 period set by law? Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10) 2.0 Must Buyer disclose direct and indirect beneficial ownership stakes representing 5%? No 0.0 Must Buyer disclose information about board members’ primary employment and No 0.0 directorships in other companies? Must Buyer disclose the compensation of individual managers? No 0.0 Must a detailed notice of general meeting be sent 21 days before the meeting? No 0.0 Can shareholders representing 5% of Buyer’s share capital put items on the general meeting No 0.0 agenda? Must Buyer's annual financial statements be audited by an external auditor? No 0.0 Must Buyer disclose its audit reports to the public? No 0.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must members meet at least once a year? Yes 1.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, can members representing 5% put items on the Yes 1.0 meeting agenda? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer's annual financial statements be No 0.0 audited by an external auditor? Page 35 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Paying Taxes This topic records the taxes and mandatory contributions that a medium-size company must pay or withhold in a given year, as well as the administrative burden of paying taxes and contributions and complying with postfiling procedures (VAT refund and tax audit). The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018 covering for the Paying Taxes indicator calendar year 2017 (January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2017). See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Tax payments for a manufacturing company in Using a case scenario, Doing Business records taxes and mandatory contributions a 2017 (number per year adjusted for electronic medium size company must pay in a year, and measures the administrative burden and joint filing and payment) of paying taxes, contributions and dealing with postfiling processes. Information is also compiled on frequency of filing and payments, time taken to comply with tax • Total number of taxes and contributions paid or laws, time taken to comply with the requirements of postfiling processes and time withheld, including consumption taxes (value waiting. added tax, sales tax or goods and service tax) • Method and frequency of filing and payment To make data comparable across economies, several assumptions are used: - TaxpayerCo is a medium-size business that started operations on January 1, 2016. Time required to comply with 3 major taxes It produces ceramic flowerpots and sells them at retail. All taxes and contributions (hours per year) recorded are paid in the second year of operation (calendar year 2017). Taxes and • Collecting information, computing tax payable mandatory contributions are measured at all levels of government. • Preparing separate tax accounting books, if The VAT refund process: required - In June 2017, TaxpayerCo. makes a large capital purchase: the value of the • Completing tax return, filing with agencies machine is 65 times income per capita of the economy. Sales are equally spread per month (1,050 times income per capita divided by 12) and cost of goods sold are • Arranging payment or withholding equally expensed per month (875 times income per capita divided by 12). The Total tax and contribution rate (% of commercial machinery seller is registered for VAT and excess input VAT incurred in June will be fully recovered after four consecutive months if the VAT rate is the same for inputs, profits) sales and the machine and the tax reporting period is every month. Input VAT will • Profit or corporate income tax exceed Output VAT in June 2017. • Social contributions, labor taxes paid by The corporate income tax audit process: employer - An error in calculation of income tax liability (for example, use of incorrect tax • Property and property transfer taxes depreciation rates, or incorrectly treating an expense as tax deductible) leads to an • Dividend, capital gains, financial transactions incorrect income tax return and a corporate income tax underpayment. TaxpayerCo. taxes discovered the error and voluntarily notified the tax authority. The value of the underpaid income tax liability is 5% of the corporate income tax liability • Waste collection, vehicle, road and other taxes due. TaxpayerCo. submits corrected information after the deadline for submitting the annual tax return, but within the tax assessment period. Postfiling Index • Time to comply with a VAT refund (hours) • Time to obtain a VAT refund (weeks) • Time to comply with a corporate income tax correction (hours) • Time to complete a corporate income tax correction (weeks) Page 36 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Paying Taxes - Honduras Indicator Honduras Latin America OECD high Best Regulatory & Caribbean income Performance Payments (number per year) 48 27.1 11.2 3 (Hong Kong SAR, China) Time (hours per year) 224 330.0 159.4 49 (Singapore) Total tax and contribution rate (% of profit) 44.4 46.7 39.8 26.1% (32 Economies) Postfiling index (0-100) 35.14 47.04 84.41 None in 2017/18 Figure – Paying Taxes in Honduras and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Paying Taxes Score 0 100 77.99: Costa Rica (Rank: 57) 77.30: El Salvador (Rank: 62) 70.30: Guatemala (Rank: 102) 60.49: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 57.85: Colombia (Rank: 146) 51.74: Honduras (Rank: 164) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of paying taxes is determined by sorting their scores for paying taxes. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators, with a threshold and a nonlinear transformation applied to one of the component indicators, the total tax and contribution rate. The threshold is defined as the total tax and contribution rate at the 15th percentile of the overall distribution for all years included in the analysis up to and including Doing Business 2015, which is 26.1%. All economies with a total tax and contribution rate below this threshold receive the same score as the economy at the threshold. Figure – Paying Taxes in Honduras and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 100 87.15 80 Index score 60 48.17 49.54 47.04 40 35.14 33.04 20 0 Honduras Colombia Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Latin America & Caribbean Page 37 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Details – Paying Taxes in Honduras Tax or Payments Notes on Time Statutory Tax base Total tax Notes on mandatory (number) Payments (hours) tax rate and TTCR contribution contribution rate (% of profit) Corporate 4.0 35.0 25% taxable profit 26.52 income tax or gross income Municipal tax 1.0 0.4% sales 7.07 on industry and commerce Solidarity tax 0.0 jointly 5% taxable profit 4.11 over Lps 1,000,000 Fixed assets 1.0 1% over Lps assets value 2.14 tax 3,000,000 Employer 0.0 1.5% gross salaries 1.69 paid - Pension contribution - RAP Employer 1.0 1% gross salaries 1.13 paid - Professional training tax - INFOP Municipal 12.0 Lps 3.5 per property 0.53 property tax 1,000 value Capital gains 1.0 10% capital gains 0.51 tax Employer 12.0 93.0 7.2%, 8% gross salaries 0.44 paid - Social security contributions Tax on 1.0 10% if above interest 0.19 interest 50,000 Vehicle tax 1.0 Lps 2,200 fixed fee 0.03 Value added 12.0 96.0 15% value added 0.00 not included tax (VAT) Stamp duty 1.0 Lps 200 for transaction 0.00 small amount contracts with value a value less than 1,000 and Lps 1.5 per 1,000 of value of transaction Employee 0.0 jointly 5% gross salaries 0.00 withheld paid - Social security contributions Fuel tax 1.0 $0.6106 per fuel 0.00 gallon consumption Totals 48 224 44.4 Page 38 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Details – Paying Taxes in Honduras – Tax by Type Taxes by type Answer Profit tax (% of profit) 31.1 Labor tax and contributions (% of profit) 3.3 Other taxes (% of profit) 10 Page 39 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Details – Paying Taxes in Honduras – Measure of Quality Answer Score Postfiling index (0-100) 35.14 VAT refunds Does VAT exist? Yes Does a VAT refund process exist per the case study? Yes Restrictions on VAT refund process None Percentage of cases exposed to a VAT audit (%) 50% - 74% Is there a mandatory carry forward period? No Time to comply with VAT refund (hours) 33.0 34 Time to obtain a VAT refund (weeks) 54.5 1.06 Corporate income tax audits Does corporate income tax exist? Yes Percentage of cases exposed to a corporate income tax audit (%) 25% - 49% Time to comply with a corporate income tax correction (hours) 17.0 71.56 Time to complete a corporate income tax correction (weeks) 21.1 33.93 Notes: Names of taxes have been standardized. For instance income tax, profit tax, tax on company's income are all named corporate income tax in this table. The hours for VAT include all the VAT and sales taxes applicable. The hours for Social Security include all the hours for labor taxes and mandatory contributions in general. The postfiling index is the average of the scores on time to comply with VAT refund, time to obtain a VAT refund, time to comply with a corporate income tax correction and time to complete a corporate income tax correction. N/A = Not applicable. Page 40 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Trading across Borders Doing Business records the time and cost associated with the logistical process of exporting and importing goods. Doing Business measures the time and cost (excluding tariffs) associated with three sets of procedures—documentary compliance, border compliance and domestic transport—within the overall process of exporting or importing a shipment of goods. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Documentary compliance To make the data comparable across economies, a few assumptions are made about the traded goods and the transactions: • Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents during transport, clearance, inspections and port Time: Time is measured in hours, and 1 day is 24 hours (for example, 22 days are or border handling in origin economy recorded as 22×24=528 hours). If customs clearance takes 7.5 hours, the data are • Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents recorded as is. Alternatively, suppose documents are submitted to a customs agency required by destination economy and any transit at 8:00a.m., are processed overnight and can be picked up at 8:00a.m. the next day. economies The time for customs clearance would be recorded as 24 hours because the actual procedure took 24 hours. • Covers all documents required by law and in practice, including electronic submissions of Cost: Insurance cost and informal payments for which no receipt is issued are information excluded from the costs recorded. Costs are reported in U.S. dollars. Contributors Border compliance are asked to convert local currency into U.S. dollars based on the exchange rate prevailing on the day they answer the questionnaire. Contributors are private sector • Customs clearance and inspections experts in international trade logistics and are informed about exchange rates. • Inspections by other agencies (if applied to more than 20% of shipments) Assumptions of the case study: - For all 190 economies covered by Doing Business, it is assumed a shipment is in a • Handling and inspections that take place at the warehouse in the largest business city of the exporting economy and travels to a economy’s port or border warehouse in the largest business city of the importing economy. - It is assumed each economy imports 15 metric tons of containerized auto parts (HS Domestic transport 8708) from its natural import partner—the economy from which it imports the largest • Loading or unloading of the shipment at the value (price times quantity) of auto parts. It is assumed each economy exports the warehouse or port/border product of its comparative advantage (defined by the largest export value) to its • Transport between warehouse and port/border natural export partner—the economy that is the largest purchaser of this product. Shipment value is assumed to be $50,000. • Traffic delays and road police checks while - The mode of transport is the one most widely used for the chosen export or import shipment is en route product and the trading partner, as is the seaport or land border crossing. - All electronic information submissions requested by any government agency in connection with the shipment are considered to be documents obtained, prepared and submitted during the export or import process. - A port or border is a place (seaport or land border crossing) where merchandise can enter or leave an economy. - Relevant government agencies include customs, port authorities, road police, border guards, standardization agencies, ministries or departments of agriculture or industry, national security agencies and any other government authorities. Page 41 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Trading across Borders - Honduras Indicator Honduras Latin America OECD high Best Regulatory & Caribbean income Performance Time to export: Border compliance (hours) 88 61.9 12.5 1 (19 Economies) Cost to export: Border compliance (USD) 601 529.8 139.1 0 (19 Economies) Time to export: Documentary compliance (hours) 48 52.5 2.4 1 (26 Economies) Cost to export: Documentary compliance (USD) 80 110.4 35.2 0 (20 Economies) Time to import: Border compliance (hours) 96 62.6 8.5 0 (25 Economies) Cost to import: Border compliance (USD) 483 647.2 100.2 0 (28 Economies) Time to import: Documentary compliance (hours) 72 79.1 3.4 1 (30 Economies) Cost to import: Documentary compliance (USD) 70 116.3 24.9 0 (30 Economies) Figure – Trading across Borders in Honduras and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Trading Across Borders Score 0 100 89.76: El Salvador (Rank: 44) 79.32: Costa Rica (Rank: 73) 77.15: Guatemala (Rank: 83) 69.15: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 65.85: Honduras (Rank: 123) 61.83: Colombia (Rank: 133) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of trading across borders is determined by sorting their scores for trading across borders. These scores are the simple average of the scores for the time and cost for documentary compliance and border compliance to export and import. Figure – Trading across Borders in Honduras – Time and Cost Time (hours) Cost (USD) 120 700 601 100 96 600 88 483 Time (hours) 500 Cost (USD) 80 72 400 60 48 300 40 200 20 80 70 100 0 0 Export Export Import Import - - - - Border Documentary Border Documentary Compliance Compliance Compliance Compliance Page 42 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Details – Trading across Borders in Honduras Characteristics Export Import Product HS 09 : Coffee, tea, matï and spices HS 8708: Parts and accessories of motor vehicles Trade partner Germany United States Border Puerto Cortés port Puerto Cortés port Distance (km) 172 172 Domestic transport time (hours) 6 6 Domestic transport cost (USD) 1250 1250 Details – Trading across Borders in Honduras – Components of Border Compliance Time to Complete (hours) Associated Costs (USD) Export: Clearance and inspections required 15.0 190.0 by customs authorities Export: Clearance and inspections required 72.0 265.0 by agencies other than customs Export: Port or border handling 16.0 146.3 Import: Clearance and inspections required 96.0 215.0 by customs authorities Import: Clearance and inspections required 0.0 0.0 by agencies other than customs Import: Port or border handling 96.0 267.8 Page 43 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Details – Trading across Borders in Honduras – Trade Documents Export Import Customs Export Declaration Customs Import Declaration Phytosanitary Certificate Commercial Invoice IHCAFE (Hondutas Coffee Institute) CO Packing List IHCAFE Export Certificate Cargo Release Order OIC (Organizacion Internacional del Cafe/Coffee International Terminal Handling Receipts Ass.) Export Certificate Foreign Exchange Authorization Certificate of Origin Commercial Invoice Bill of Lading Packing List SOLAS certificate Bill of Lading SOLAS certificate Page 44 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Enforcing Contracts The enforcing contracts indicator measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local first-instance court, and the quality of judicial processes index, evaluating whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and efficiency in the court system. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to enforce a contract through the The dispute in the case study involves the breach of a sales contract between 2 courts (calendar days) domestic businesses. The case study assumes that the court hears an expert on the quality of the goods in dispute. This distinguishes the case from simple debt • Time to file and serve the case enforcement. • Time for trial and to obtain the judgment To make the data comparable across economies, Doing Business uses several • Time to enforce the judgment assumptions about the case: Cost required to enforce a contract through the - The dispute concerns a lawful transaction between two businesses (Seller and courts (% of claim) Buyer), both located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. • Attorney fees - The buyer orders custom-made goods, then fails to pay alleging that the goods are • Court fees not of adequate quality. - The value of the dispute is 200% of the income per capita or the equivalent in local • Enforcement fees currency of USD 5,000, whichever is greater. - The seller sues the buyer before the court with jurisdiction over commercial cases Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) worth 200% of income per capita or $5,000. • Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) - The seller requests the pretrial attachment of the defendant’s movable assets to secure the claim. • Case management (0-6) - The dispute on the quality of the goods requires an expert opinion. • Court automation (0-4) - The judge decides in favor of the seller; there is no appeal. • Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) - The seller enforces the judgment through a public sale of the buyer’s movable assets. Page 45 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Enforcing Contracts - Honduras Standardized Case Claim value HNL 116,883 Court name Unified Civil District Court of Francisco Morazán City Covered Tegucigalpa Indicator Honduras Latin America OECD high Best Regulatory & Caribbean income Performance Time (days) 920 768.5 582.4 None in 2017/18 Cost (% of claim value) 35.2 31.4 21.2 None in 2017/18 Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 7.5 8.5 11.5 None in 2017/18 Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Honduras and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Enforcing Contracts Score 0 100 55.30: El Salvador (Rank: 109) 53.39: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 53.33: Costa Rica (Rank: 121) 45.54: Honduras (Rank: 152) 34.55: Guatemala (Rank: 176) 34.29: Colombia (Rank: 177) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of enforcing contracts is determined by sorting their scores for enforcing contracts. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Honduras – Time and Cost Time (days) Cost (% of claim value) 1600 45.8 50 Cost (% of claim value) 1402 1400 1288 35.2 40 1200 Time (days) 31.4 1000 920 852 816 26.5 30 24.3 768.5 800 21.2 19.2 582.4 600 20 400 10 200 0 0 Colombia Costa El Guatemala Honduras Latin OECD Rica Salvador America high & income Caribbean Page 46 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Honduras and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Honduras 2.5 2 0 3 Colombia 2.5 1.5 1.5 3.5 Costa Rica 2.5 2.5 0.5 3 El Salvador 2.5 2 0.5 3 Guatemala 2 0.5 0.5 3 OECD high income 2.5 3.1 2.3 3.6 Latin America & Caribbean 2.4 2.1 0.9 3.5 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Sub-Indicator Score Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) Case management (0-6) Court automation (0-4) Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) Details – Enforcing Contracts in Honduras Indicator Time (days) 920 Filing and service 60 Trial and judgment 680 Enforcement of judgment 180 Cost (% of claim value) 35.2 Attorney fees 25 Court fees 2.1 Enforcement fees 8.1 Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 7.5 Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 3.0 Case management (0-6) 2.0 Court automation (0-4) 0.0 Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.5 Page 47 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Details – Enforcing Contracts in Honduras – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 7.5 Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 3.0 1. Is there a court or division of a court dedicated solely to hearing commercial cases? No 0.0 2. Small claims court 1.5 2.a. Is there a small claims court or a fast-track procedure for small claims? Yes 2.b. If yes, is self-representation allowed? Yes 3. Is pretrial attachment available? Yes 1.0 4. Are new cases assigned randomly to judges? Yes, but manual 0.5 5. Does a woman's testimony carry the same evidentiary weight in court as a man's? Yes 0.0 Case management (0-6) 2.0 1. Time standards 1.0 1.a. Are there laws setting overall time standards for key court events in a civil Yes case? 1.b. If yes, are the time standards set for at least three court events? Yes 1.c. Are these time standards respected in more than 50% of cases? Yes 2. Adjournments 0.0 2.a. Does the law regulate the maximum number of adjournments that can be No granted? 2.b. Are adjournments limited to unforeseen and exceptional circumstances? No 2.c. If rules on adjournments exist, are they respected in more than 50% of cases? n.a. 3. Can two of the following four reports be generated about the competent court: (i) time to No 0.0 disposition report; (ii) clearance rate report; (iii) age of pending cases report; and (iv) single case progress report? 4. Is a pretrial conference among the case management techniques used before the Yes 1.0 competent court? 5. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court for No 0.0 use by judges? 6. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court for No 0.0 use by lawyers? Court automation (0-4) 0.0 1. Can the initial complaint be filed electronically through a dedicated platform within the no 0.0 competent court? 2. Is it possible to carry out service of process electronically for claims filed before the No 0.0 competent court? 3. Can court fees be paid electronically within the competent court? No 0.0 4. Publication of judgments 0.0 4.a Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at all levels made available to the No general public through publication in official gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? 4.b. Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at the appellate and supreme No court level made available to the general public through publication in official gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.5 1. Arbitration 1.5 Page 48 Doing Business 2019 Honduras 1.a. Is domestic commercial arbitration governed by a consolidated law or Yes consolidated chapter or section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all its aspects? 1.b. Are there any commercial disputes—aside from those that deal with public No order or public policy—that cannot be submitted to arbitration? 1.c. Are valid arbitration clauses or agreements usually enforced by the courts? Yes 2. Mediation/Conciliation 1.0 2.a. Is voluntary mediation or conciliation available? Yes 2.b. Are mediation, conciliation or both governed by a consolidated law or Yes consolidated chapter or section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all their aspects? 2.c. Are there financial incentives for parties to attempt mediation or conciliation No (i.e., if mediation or conciliation is successful, a refund of court filing fees, income tax credits or the like)? Page 49 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Resolving Insolvency Doing Business studies the time, cost and outcome of insolvency proceedings involving domestic legal entities. These variables are used to calculate the recovery rate, which is recorded as cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors through reorganization, liquidation or debt enforcement (foreclosure or receivership) proceedings. To determine the present value of the amount recovered by creditors, Doing Business uses the lending rates from the International Monetary Fund, supplemented with data from central banks and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to recover debt (years) To make the data on the time, cost and outcome comparable across economies, several assumptions about the business and the case are used: • Measured in calendar years • Appeals and requests for extension are included - A hotel located in the largest city (or cities) has 201 employees and 50 suppliers. The hotel experiences financial difficulties. Cost required to recover debt (% of debtor’s - The value of the hotel is 100% of the income per capita or the equivalent in local estate) currency of USD 200,000, whichever is greater. - The hotel has a loan from a domestic bank, secured by a mortgage over the hotel’s • Measured as percentage of estate value real estate. The hotel cannot pay back the loan, but makes enough money to • Court fees operate otherwise. • Fees of insolvency administrators In addition, Doing Business evaluates the quality of legal framework applicable to • Lawyers’ fees judicial liquidation and reorganization proceedings and the extent to which best • Assessors’ and auctioneers’ fees insolvency practices have been implemented in each economy covered. • Other related fees Outcome • Whether business continues operating as a going concern or business assets are sold piecemeal Recovery rate for creditors • Measures the cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors • Outcome for the business (survival or not) determines the maximum value that can be recovered • Official costs of the insolvency proceedings are deducted • Depreciation of furniture is taken into account • Present value of debt recovered Strength of insolvency framework index (0- 16) • Sum of the scores of four component indices: • Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) • Management of debtor’s assets index (0-6) • Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) • Creditor participation index (0-4) Page 50 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Resolving Insolvency - Honduras Indicator Honduras Latin America OECD high Best Regulatory & Caribbean income Performance Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) 19.0 30.9 70.5 None in 2017/18 Time (years) 3.8 2.9 1.7 0.4 (Ireland) Cost (% of estate) 14.5 16.8 9.3 1.0 (Norway) Outcome (0 as piecemeal sale and 1 as going 0 .. .. .. concern) Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 7.0 7.1 11.9 None in 2017/18 Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Honduras and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Resolving Insolvency Score 0 100 67.40: Colombia (Rank: 40) 45.63: El Salvador (Rank: 89) 38.91: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 34.53: Costa Rica (Rank: 134) 32.09: Honduras (Rank: 143) 27.59: Guatemala (Rank: 156) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of resolving insolvency is determined by sorting their scores for resolving insolvency. These scores are the simple average of the scores for the recovery rate and the strength of insolvency framework index. Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Honduras – Time and Cost Time (years) Cost (% of estate) 4 3.8 16.8 18 3.5 3.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 16 Cost (% of estate) 3.0 3.0 2.9 14 3 Time (years) 12.0 12 2.5 9.3 10 2 8.5 1.7 1.7 8 1.5 6 1 4 0.5 2 0 0 Colombia Costa El Guatemala Honduras Latin OECD Rica Salvador America high & income Caribbean Page 51 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Honduras and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Honduras 4 2 1 0 Colombia 5.5 3 1 0.5 Costa Rica 2 3 1 0 El Salvador 4 2 3 0 Guatemala 0 2 2 0 OECD high income 5.3 2.8 2.2 1.9 Latin America & Caribbean 3.7 2.4 1.9 0.8 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Sub-Indicator Score Management of debtor's assets index (0-6) Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) Creditor participation index (0-4) Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) Note: Even if the economy’s legal framework includes provisions related to insolvency proceedings (liquidation or reorganization), the economy receives 0 points for the strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice.” Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Honduras and comparator economies – Recovery Rate Recovery rate(cents on the dollar) 100 80 67.2 60 40 32.5 29.3 28.0 30.9 19.0 20 0 Honduras Colombia Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Latin America & Caribbean Page 52 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Details – Resolving Insolvency in Honduras Indicator Answer Score Proceeding foreclosure BizBank will commence a foreclosure proceeding requesting the sale of the estate used as a collateral in satisfaction of the debt. Mirage won’t be able to request any type of suspension of the enforcement actions to avoid foreclosure because the acquiescence of all creditors is required. Debt rescheduling as part of a reorganization plan is not possible because there is no judicial reorganization procedure in Honduras. Outcome piecemeal sale It is not possible in Honduras for an insolvent company to start reorganization procedures so that the business may continue operating. If the secured creditor requires the sale of the assets used as collateral in satisfaction of the secure lending by means of a foreclosure, there is no legal instrument that will allow the business to continue operating. Therefore, its assets will be sold piecemeal. Time (in years) 3.8 The foreclosure proceeding will take approximately 3.75 years in Honduras from the moment of Mirage’s default until the debt is repaid to the secured creditor. It will take 1 year until the approval to initiate foreclosure is handed down by the Court including all required notifications and the debtor’s counter-claim. Henceforward, it will take 2 years for the auction to take place (including the necessary time to appoint an auctioneer, the scheduling of the auction and the sale of the real estate). It will take additional 9 months for the judge to approve the sale and have it registered. Cost (% of 14.5 The cost for a foreclosure proceeding as described above would amount to approximately 14.5% estate) of the value of Mirage’s estate. The main component of this expenditure would be the attorney’s fees, which would amount 10% of the value of Mirage’s estate. The rest of the cost would be judicial and notification expenses and expenses related to the auction (2%). The Auctioneer’s fees will amount 3% of the value of the debtor’s estate. Recovery rate 19.0 (cents on the dollar) Page 53 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Details – Resolving Insolvency in Honduras – Measure of Quality Answer Score Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 7.0 Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) 2.0 What procedures are available to a DEBTOR when commencing insolvency proceedings? (b) Debtor may 0.5 file for liquidation only Does the insolvency framework allow a CREDITOR to file for insolvency of the debtor? (b) Yes, but a 0.5 creditor may file for liquidation only What basis for commencement of the insolvency proceedings is allowed under the (a) Debtor is 1.0 insolvency framework? generally unable to pay its debts as they mature Management of debtor's assets index (0-6) 4.0 Does the insolvency framework allow the continuation of contracts supplying essential goods Yes 1.0 and services to the debtor? Does the insolvency framework allow the rejection by the debtor of overly burdensome Yes 1.0 contracts? Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of preferential transactions? Yes 1.0 Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of undervalued transactions? Yes 1.0 Does the insolvency framework provide for the possibility of the debtor obtaining credit after No 0.0 commencement of insolvency proceedings? Does the insolvency framework assign priority to post-commencement credit? (c) No priority is 0.0 assigned to post- commencement creditors Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) 0.0 Which creditors vote on the proposed reorganization plan? N/A 0.0 Does the insolvency framework require that dissenting creditors in reorganization receive at No 0.0 least as much as what they would obtain in a liquidation? Are the creditors divided into classes for the purposes of voting on the reorganization plan, No 0.0 does each class vote separately and are creditors in the same class treated equally? Creditor participation index (0-4) 1.0 Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for selection or No 0.0 appointment of the insolvency representative? Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for sale of substantial No 0.0 assets of the debtor? Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to request information No 0.0 from the insolvency representative? Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to object to decisions Yes 1.0 accepting or rejecting creditors' claims? Note: Even if the economy’s legal framework includes provisions related to insolvency proceedings (liquidation or reorganization), the economy receives 0 points for the strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice.” Page 54 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Labor Market Regulation Doing Business presents detailed data for the labor market regulation indicators on the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org). The report does not present rankings of economies on these indicators or include the topic in the aggregate ease of doing business score or ranking on the ease of doing business. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Hiring To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the (i) whether fixed-term contracts are prohibited for worker and the business are used. permanent tasks; (ii) maximum cumulative duration of fixed-term contracts; (iii) length of the The worker: probationary period; (iv) minimum wage. - Is a cashier in a supermarket or grocery store, age 19, with one year of work experience. Working hours - Is a full-time employee. (i) maximum number of working days allowed per - Is not a member of the labor union, unless membership is mandatory. week; (ii) premiums for work: at night, on a weekly rest day and overtime; (iii) whether there are The business: restrictions on work at night, work on a weekly rest - Is a limited liability company (or the equivalent in the economy). day and for overtime work; (iv) whether - Operates a supermarket or grocery store in the economy’s largest business city. nonpregnant and nonnursing women can work For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. same night hours as men; (v) length of paid annual - Has 60 employees. leave. - Is subject to collective bargaining agreements if such agreements cover more than 50% of the food retail sector and they apply even to firms that are not party to them. Redundancy rules - Abides by every law and regulation but does not grant workers more benefits than (i) whether redundancy can be basis for terminating those mandated by law, regulation or (if applicable) collective bargaining workers; (ii) whether employer needs to notify agreements. and/or get approval from third party to terminate 1 redundant worker and a group of 9 redundant workers; (iii) whether law requires employer to reassign or retrain a worker before making worker redundant; (iv) whether priority rules apply for redundancies and reemployment. Redundancy cost (i) notice period for redundancy dismissal; (ii) severance payments due when terminating a redundant worker. Job quality (i) whether law mandates equal remuneration for work of equal value and nondiscrimination based on gender in hiring; (ii) whether law mandates paid or unpaid maternity leave; (iii) length of paid maternity leave; (iv) whether employees on maternity leave receive 100% of wages; (v) availability of five fully paid days of sick leave a year; (vi) eligibility requirements for unemployment protection. Page 55 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Labor Market Regulation - Honduras Details – Labor Market Regulation in Honduras Answer Hiring Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks? Yes Maximum length of a single fixed-term contract (months) 12.0 Maximum length of fixed-term contracts, including renewals (months) 24.0 Minimum wage applicable to the worker assumed in the case study (US$/month) 472.4 Ratio of minimum wage to value added per worker 1.6 Maximum length of probationary period (months) 2.0 Working hours Standard workday 8.0 Maximum number of working days per week 6.0 Premium for night work (% of hourly pay) 25.0 Premium for work on weekly rest day (% of hourly pay) 100.0 Premium for overtime work (% of hourly pay) 37.5 Restrictions on night work? Yes Whether nonpregnant and nonnursing women can work the same night hours as men Yes Restrictions on weekly holiday? No Restrictions on overtime work? No Paid annual leave for a worker with 1 year of tenure (working days) 10.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 5 years of tenure (working days) 20.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 10 years of tenure (working days) 20.0 Paid annual leave (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in working days) 16.7 Redundancy rules Dismissal due to redundancy allowed by law? Yes Third-party notification if one worker is dismissed? Yes Third-party approval if one worker is dismissed? Yes Third-party notification if nine workers are dismissed? Yes Third-party approval if nine workers are dismissed? Yes Retraining or reassignment obligation before redundancy? No Priority rules for redundancies? Yes Priority rules for reemployment? No Redundancy cost Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure 4.3 Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure 8.7 Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure 8.7 Notice period for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure) 7.2 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure 4.3 Page 56 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure 21.7 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure 43.3 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure) 23.1 Job quality Equal remuneration for work of equal value? No Gender nondiscrimination in hiring? Yes Paid or unpaid maternity leave mandated by law? Yes Minimum length of maternity leave (calendar days)? 84.0 Receive 100% of wages on maternity leave? Yes Five fully paid days of sick leave a year? Yes Unemployment protection after one year of employment? No Minimum contribution period for unemployment protection (months)? n.a. Page 57 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Business Reforms in Honduras In the past year, Doing Business observed a peaking of reform activity worldwide. From June 2, 2017, to May 1, 2018, 128 economies implemented a record 314 regulatory reforms improving the business climate. Reforms inspired by Doing Business have been implemented by economies in all regions. The following are reforms implemented since Doing Business 2008. = Doing Business reform making it easier to do business. = Change making it more difficult to do business. DB2018 Registering Property: Honduras made registration of property more difficult by reducing the number of employees at the land registry. DB2017 Trading across Borders: Honduras made trading across borders more difficult by increasing the number of intrusive inspections for importing, which increased the border compliance time. DB2016 Protecting Minority Investors: Honduras strengthened minority investor protections by introducing provisions requiring greater disclosure of related-party transactions, prohibiting interested parties from voting on a related-party transaction, allowing shareholders representing at least 5% of a company’s share capital to bring a direct action for damages against its directors and giving any shareholder the right to inspect company documents. Paying Taxes: Honduras made paying taxes more costly for companies by introducing an alternative minimum income tax. DB2015 Starting a Business: Honduras made starting a business easier by eliminating the paid-in minimum capital requirement. Dealing with Construction Permits: Honduras made dealing with construction permits more costly by increasing the building permit fees. DB2012 Getting Credit: Honduras strengthened its secured transactions system through a new decree establishing a centralized and computerized collateral registry and providing for out-of-court enforcement of collateral upon default. Paying Taxes: Honduras made paying taxes costlier for firms by raising the solidarity tax rate. Trading across Borders: Honduras made trading across borders faster by implementing a web-based electronic data interchange system and X-ray machines at the port of Puerto Cortes. Enforcing Contracts: Honduras adopted a new civil procedure code that modified litigation procedures for enforcing a contract. DB2010 Starting a Business: Honduras simplified business start-up by improving the efficiency of business registration at the one-stop shop, improving the tax registration process and eliminating the need for a lawyer’s services to obtain a municipal license. Dealing with Construction Permits: Honduras reduced the time required for dealing with construction permits by streamlining administrative processes in the Construction Control Department. Getting Credit: Honduras improved its credit information system through a resolution that enhances the operations of the public credit bureau and introduces several categories for classifying debtors on the basis of their credit history. Labor Market Regulation: Honduras increased the severance payments applicable in redundancy dismissals. DB2009 Paying Taxes: Honduras made paying taxes easier for companies by encouraging electronic filing and payment. Trading across Borders: Honduras made importing easier by eliminating the requirement for consular legalization of trade documents. Page 58 Doing Business 2019 Honduras DB2008 Starting a Business: Honduras reduced the time required to start a business by simplifying municipal licensing procedures. Dealing with Construction Permits: Honduras made dealing with construction permits easier through administrative changes reducing the time required to obtain an environmental license from the Ministry of Natural Resources and to obtain approval for a telephone line. Registering Property: Honduras made registering property easier by setting time limits for the completion of certain procedures. Getting Credit: Honduras improved access to credit information by guaranteeing borrowers’ right to inspect their own data. In addition, the country strengthened its secured transactions system by allowing parties to a security agreement to agree to out-of-court enforcement of the security interest through the use of a notary. Page 59 Doing Business 2019 Honduras Page 60