El Salvador

Government and institution measures in response to COVID-19.

General Information | Tax measures – Direct and Indirect | Employment-related measures | Economic stimulus measures | Other measures and sources

Return to homepage | Last updated: 14 May, 2020

General Information

The Salvadoran government and congress (Asamblea Legislativa) approved several decrees in order to regulate the crisis which includes restrictions on free transit, extensions in tax payments and provisions on telecommuting, as well as health issues.

Tax measures – Direct and Indirect

(e.g. payment deferrals, rate reductions…)

Click here to see a comprehensive summary of jurisdictional tax measures and government reliefs in response to COVID-19.

Employment-related measures

(e.g. state compensation schemes, training…)

The Telecommuting regulation law is approved, which their relevant aspects are the following:

Telecommuting is defined as a way of carrying out the non presential employment relationship outside a workplace, using as a support the information technologies and the communication.
There must be an employment contract governed by the Work law regulations where the conditions of telecommuting are established.
Employers have the same obligations and prohibitions established in the Work law of El Salvador, in addition to providing the necessary tools to develop telecommuting.
People employed under the telecommuting modality have the same rights as face-to-face workers in terms of social security, social security, legal benefits, occupational health and safety and freedom of association.

Economic stimulus measures

(e.g. loans, moratorium on debt repayments…)

The government decreed National Emergency, which, among other things, provides that no contractual breaches will be incurred, nor civil and commercial penalties for those people affected by the crisis who are unable to fulfill their obligations, therefore, the following sectors have taken measures such as:

The banks have frozen their loan installments to their clients for 3 months.
The payment of electricity, water and telephone bills are frozen during the months of March, April and May as regulated in the transitory law to postpone the payment for up to 24 months.

Other measures and sources

The State of Emergency Decree prohibits the dismissal of employees and job stability is guaranteed for 3 months.
The temporary restriction of the constitutional rights act is decreed, which among other things limits freedom of transit, which expires on April 15 2020.
The Government has delivered a financial support of USD300 to affected families.

Contact us

Tax: Flor de María Jaime – fjaime@kpmg.com
Joaquin Torres – joaquintorres@kpmg.com