What's the Honduran government's cut of your travel costs?

Often we have vague discussions about Honduras and I am compelled to see just what exactly the law or constitution say on the matter. It is frequently very difficult to find a law unless you know the name or number of the law, and when you find it, it's hard to know if a later law may have revised or eliminated it. But I like detective work, so I usually persevere. ;-)

The following events set me on the detective trail:

A law was passed in December 2011 to increase the airport departure tax from around US $34 to around US $60 to generate money for InterAirports to build the new Palmerola airport. The increase in exit fee was not discussed or made public, and only came to light later amidst a ton of bad publicity prompting congressional claims that they didn't http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifknow what was in the contract that they had approved. Ultimately, due to the possible affect on tourism as well as business travel, President Lobo vetoed the decree.

Then in January, the media discovered that yet another increase to the airport taxes had been passed by congress on that very same day. This one was an increase of US $34, or a charge of US $17 on arrival and US $17 on departure for all international travelers. Again it related to a contract, the Securiport contract to provide better immigration control of visitors. Again, the congress claimed to not know that they were approving an increase in taxes. And again, even though President Lobo personally had ordered the contract specifically with Securiport under an "emergency" decree (no public bidding process), he vetoed the decree due to the bad publicity and outrage by congressmen saying that they had been tricked.

This second tax, combined with the other law, would have made the total Honduran "entrance/exit" fees charged to travelers US $94, approximately three to four times that charged by other Central American countries. And that's not even considering the hefty 12% sales tax, 15% liquor tax, and 16% hotel tax that travelers already pay while in Honduras.

Discussion of those new taxes led to comments from travelers like "Honduras already has the highest airport taxes" or "I already pay US $250 in Honduran taxes plus the $34 exit fee", and "We already pay a lot more for a round trip from Honduras than others pay for a round trip to Honduras!" That piqued my curiosity. Was it true that Honduran taxes on air travel were already high even without these new laws?

I couldn't find any law on transportation taxes, so, curious to find out exactly what taxes were charged on airline tickets, I asked people to send me copies of their online ticket confirmations to see what I could figure out. With the initial batches of tickets that I received, it appeared that this wasn't really a "Honduran transportation tax" as it was described on the ticket fare breakdowns, but a sales tax of 12%, the base Honduran sales tax rate. All of the initial breakdowns that people sent me included a tax of 12% of the base fare of the ticket when the originating flight left from Honduras, and no Honduran tax if the flight originated in another country. I thought I had it figured out.

Then a couple of people threw a kink into my theory after sending me ticket cost breakdowns that reflected a 15%, 16%, or 18% Honduran transportation tax. Still unable to find anything definitive, I reluctantly put it aside as one of those Honduran mysteries that I couldn't solve.

Today while looking for another obscure law (which I couldn't find either!), I ran across the Sales Tax Law and decided to see if it said anything specifically about airline tickets. Ahah! The law says that national or international airline tickets, including those emitted by internet or other electronic means, are charged the 12% sales tax, depending on where the orders or tickets (electronic or not) are emitted or in the place that the passenger will board. All of the 20 or so tickets that I initially reviewed were taxed at 12% if the flight originated in Honduras. If the flight originated in another country, no Honduran sales tax was charged.

The tax is charged on the entire base fare plus fuel charges, if any, even if future legs of the journey originate from and arrive in other countries. For example, one itinerary originated in San Pedro and included a trip from Newark to Hong Kong. The entire base ticket price was taxed at 12% by the Honduran government! If you want to save money on a multi-leg journey, you might want to check into booking your later non-Honduran flights separately. The US charges a boatload of taxes on airline tickets, but the total doesn't come close to approaching 12% of the base fare except on lower dollar tickets (under $500 or so).

So the first part of my theory was correct. But what about the tickets which reflected higher tax rates?

Assuming that there was a more recent law, I googled again using "impuesto transporte aéreo honduras" and found several newspaper articles. In March 2010, as a part of Lobo's first tax paquetazo, the sales tax on first class, executive class, and business class tickets was increased to 18%.

Based on the tickets that several Honduran residents sent to me, I was able to determine that only the first class (or similar upgraded) portion of the ticket is charged 18% sales tax so that is why I saw "Honduran transportation tax" being charged at various percentages of the base fare, ranging from 12% to 16% to 17% or 18%. The odd rates were when the traveler flew regular class in one direction and first class the other. If the entire ticket was first class, tax of 18% was included.

So now you know exactly what taxes you are being charged by the Honduran government. They are going to get 12% of your airfare (18% if you fly first class), 16% on your hotel costs, 15% on liquor costs, and 12% on restaurants and just about any other purchases you make ... at least until the next sneaky law is passed in the middle of the night. Yes, the Honduran government would definitely profit from working on promoting tourism more than they do!


P.S. Thanks so much to all of you who sent me your ticket breakdowns. This question was driving me crazy!

See that bridge over there?

I can't remember where I heard or read this joke so I can't give proper credit but it is just too funny and too true to not repeat. I think I heard it from a Honduran on a Honduran talk show so don't take offense! I'm not too much of a joke teller, but I get some great laughs from this one.

A Honduran mayor went to visit the mayor of his "sister city" in Spain. The Spanish mayor invited him home for dinner the first night of his trip. Before the dinner, which was fit for a king, he showed the Honduran mayor around his palatial estate.

The house was a mansion with finely carved furnishings, thick oriental carpets, golden faucets, and servants galore, waiting to attend to their every need. The mansion was situated on several acres of an immaculately landscaped hill overlooking a river.

The Honduran mayor, who we'll call Don Tomás, was suitably impressed and said, "I'm just a humble mayor from a poor pueblo in Honduras. I can only wonder how you can live in splendor like this. Spain must pay its mayors much better than Honduras does."

The Spanish mayor, who we'll call Don Carlos, patted Don Tomás on the back and said, "It's not so difficult. Let me tell you what I did. Perhaps you can do the same."

Don Carlos pointed out the window toward the river. "Do you see that bridge over there?"

Seeing the narrow wooden one-lane bridge crossing the river, Don Tomás replied, "Si".

"Bueno, I was able to obtain generous international aid to build a bridge for our little pueblo. But instead of building a big expensive two-lane bridge, I built a one-lane bridge and with the excess funds, I am able to have all of this." explained Don Carlos, throwing his arms wide to encompass his luxurious surroundings. "Simple, verdad?"

"Hmmm," thought Don Tomás, pondering what he had been told.

A couple of years later, Don Carlos came to Honduras for a visit, and of course, called on his friend, Don Tomás. He was surprised to find that Don Tomás was living in splendor every bit as wonderful as his own. Don Tomás appeared to have even more servants, probably due to the lower cost of wages in Honduras, he thought.

"Don Tomás! How did you amass such wealth in such a short time? This is splendid! You are to be congratulated!" he exclaimed.

Don Tomás smiled slyly and took him over to a window overlooking a river. "Do you see that bridge over there?"

Don Carlos looked out the window at the river. He moved to right and leaned out to get a better view. He leaned to the left to view the other end of the river.

"No."

Oreo Pops (recipe)

A month or so ago, I was looking for something on the internet, which led to something totally unrelated, which led to something else (Cake Pops), and then I stumbled upon Oreo Pops.

Maybe this is old news to those of you in the USA, but "Cake Pops" were something new to me. They are little dessert treats on a stick, like a sucker, and some talented people decorate them like you wouldn't believe! Cartoon characters, Santa Claus, animals, flowers, you name it (click for photos). It sounded like something fun but since I couldn't find sucker sticks or fancy decorating ingredients in La Ceiba and didn't feel like baking a cake, I decided to make Oreo Pops, or more accurately called Oreo Bites since I had to use toothpicks.

I had reservations as I thought these might be a little too sweet for my taste since the white Oreo filling is mixed in as well. Not so. They had a deep, rich chocolate flavor that wasn't overly sweet. The final texture is kind of like fudge, but not as sweet as fudge generally is. El Jefe liked them, too.

This is a great recipe for Honduras, especially for those of us not in the mega shopping areas, since it only has three ingredients: Oreos, cream cheese (which has been readily available in La Ceiba for several years now), and chocolate. I think it would also be a fun recipe for kids to make.

Oreo Pops

makes about 30-36

1 16 oz. bag of Oreos
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
4-5 oz. semisweet, milk, or white chocolate*

*I used Bakers Semisweet squares, but you could use chocolate chips or Dove chocolate candies if you can find them, or even use plain chocolate candy bars if your selection of chocolate is limited. You could also use a little of two kinds of chocolate and drizzle a design of white chocolate over a semi-sweet coating or vice versa.

If you have a food processor, dump all of the Oreos in it and let 'er rip until the Oreos are fine crumbs.

If you don't have a machine, put the cookies a few at a time into a heavy sealable plastic bag and either using a rolling pin or your kitchen rock (you do have one, right?), and smash until the cookies are in fine crumbs. Place the crumbs into a medium-sized bowl. It looks a little like potting soil at this point.

Add 4-6 oz. of the cream cheese and run the machine for a few seconds at a time until the mixture begins to pull into a well-mixed ball. Or, if you aren't using a machine, mix in the cream cheese with a big spoon, spatula, or your hands, part at a time, until the "dough" is firm and will agreeably roll into a cohesive ball. Add more, a couple of ounces at a time, as needed. I only used about 6 oz. total, though most recipes call for the whole 8 oz. You want the mix to be about play dough consistency. Too soft and your balls will flatten out, too dry and your balls will crumble.

Pinch off an amount to make about a 1 to 1 1/4 inch ball. If I had sucker sticks, I would make them bigger. Roll the dough in your hands until it is a nice round shape. Place the balls on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and put it in the freezer for 15-30 minutes.

Melt your chocolate carefully in the microwave or rig up a "double boiler" with a bowl and a small pot. I like the double boiler so I could keep the chocolate warm for dipping. As it cools, it thickens and that isn't great for dipping.


Side Note: I've been having problems with chocolate seizing (getting hard and never melting in the microwave) lately — all the time! I don't know if it is the quality of the chocolate (note the photo, this chocolate has been melted in transit at least once and apparently stored under less than optimal conditions) or if it is just from the high humidity in the air. If you use a double boiler, be sure that no boiling water spatters into your chocolate as it will definitely seize.

If your chocolate seizes or seems too thick for dipping, stir in a teaspoon or two of shortening or manteca to thin it out a bit. Don't use butter — it will melt later. This time my chocolate did seize as you can see in the small bowl to the side. I tried to melt the congealed mass over the stove with no joy, so I added a bit of shortening, and a bit more, and a bit more, until it finally got to the right consistency. Though I wouldn't purposely add that much shortening if I had a choice, the finally taste really didn't suffer.

When the balls are firm and the chocolate is melted, take a toothpick, dip the end into the chocolate and then insert it into a ball. The chocolate is supposed to help keep the toothpick from falling out of the ball and it seemed to work. I never lost a single one.

Holding the toothpick vertical, plunge the ball completely into the melted chocolate to coat it thoroughly. I used a spoon in the other hand to help the chocolate cover completely and the back of spoon to scrape some of the excess off the bottom, but work fast as the chocolate will look messy if you play with it after it starts to cool. Do this one by one and place the chocolate covered balls back on to the wax paper (foil might work, too), but definitely do not place them on a plate as the chocolate will stick like glue.

If you find the balls are getting soft before you finish, put them back into the freezer for a few minutes to firm up again before dipping the rest.

Chill in the freezer until the chocolate is firm and enjoy! I'll bet you can't eat just one.

Another note: Most recipes for Cake Balls say to not store them in the refrigerator because the chocolate will 'weep' (form condensation on the outside). Here in the tropics, the chocolate would melt if I stored them at room temperature, so I stored the Oreo Balls in the freezer. I just put some on a plate and let them thaw for a few minutes before serving.

Question: Have any of you in the tropics had problems with chocolate seizing when there has been no chance of moisture being introduced by the cook? I melted many a chocolate in my previous air-conditioned kitchens and never had this problem before. Now I have the problem almost every time and I'd like to try to pinpoint what the issue is.

As always, please let me know if you try the recipe and how you liked it. ;-)