Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes Before moving to Costa Rica, you better first decide if shipping your household to Costa Rica is what you really want to do. Maybe you want to put your belongings in storage first, rent for a while, and see if you like Costa Rica. Then, the next decision is to…
Estimated Reading Time: 11 Minutes Do you want to know everything about taxes in Costa Rica? We’re now in 2024, and the information below is updated. In this article, I will cover what type of taxes the local government charges and when they must be paid. You must pay taxes when you work, own a…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Did you know that every Costa Rica property owner must present a property value declaration every 5 years? Probably not, eh… In most countries worldwide, property owners receive notice from the tax authorities that they have to pay their property taxes. Not in Costa Rica, though! Like many other things…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Do you know where and how to pay the Costa Rica corporation tax, or “Impuesto a las Personas Jurídicas“? The Costa Rica corporation tax was approved in January 2012 and went into effect on April 1st, 2012. Many foreign buyers own property in a corporation, which is a practice that…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Is shipping a vehicle to Costa Rica a hurdle or not? When moving here, you might doubt shipping a vehicle. Should you shop for a car once you arrive here? We pay high import taxes on cars. So, when you bring a car, you’ll have to pay the tax. When…
Don’t you want to know how much property tax to pay before buying property in Costa Rica? Learn now how much, when, and where to pay Costa Rica property tax, as well as other taxes. After you purchase a property in Costa Rica, you have to pay several property-related taxes: Property Transfer Tax When you…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Living in Costa Rica might have important income tax consequences for you if you’re a taxpayer in the United States. Americans are increasingly choosing to relocate to destinations like Costa Rica. Data collected by Datosmacro.com in 2019 show that over 12,000 registered U.S. retirees and ex-pats prefer to live in…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes What are the tax implications for U.S. citizens working or having a business in Costa Rica? And their spouses’? Costa Rica is regarded as one of the safest bets in the emerging markets thanks to its strong exports, high tourism levels, and high levels of Foreign Direct Investment. If you…
Many of our US expats living in Costa Rica might not know that the United States Congress quietly slipped Fatca into a jobs bill last year.
I started practicing law in Costa Rica in 2003. At the time, incorporating, or not incorporating a company in Costa Rica to hold real property and other assets, was a straight forward decision. Property buyers were Incorporating a Company for basically 3 reasons: 1. Limited liability aspect afforded by the corporate structure. 2. Anonymity afforded…
You might not know it yet, but soon we’ll have capital gains tax in Costa Rica. How will this interfere with your home and your real estate investments in Costa Rica? Will this new tax law hurt future business in Costa Rica? One of our beach property affiliates told me this week that a seller…
Property owners who live out of the country often ask if they can make property tax payments online. The short answer is yes; you can make your property tax payments online. But, as you probably expected, it’s not as easy as it sounds. The reason is, that you need to have an account at Banco…
Are you amongst the more than 250,000 corporate owners whose corporation was dissolved by the Public Registry for non-payment of the Corporate Tax? If your corporation was dissolved by the Public Registry, what happened to your property? During the real estate boom of 2007-2008, real estate developers set up corporations so that their clients, could…
Last week’s article about the requirement for inactive corporations to file Form D-140 has generated lots of emails and comments on our social media. NOTE: When I wrote this blog, I had published Form D-140 from 2011 that was replaced by a new form in 2016. A reader on the social media said there were two…
Now, a Costa Rican corporation filing is also required, if your corporation is inactive. Just paying the 2017 corporation tax is not enough. In another blog, I already explained what and how you can make the 2017 corporation tax payments. The Finance Ministry of Costa Rica has decided that the new corporation tax also requires…
Any idea what taxes you have to pay in Costa Rica and when? Probably not… Therefore, let’s give you a Costa Rica expat tax update. In Costa Rica, most taxes and other payments, especially when you have employees, are due between December and January each year. Aguinaldo (Christmas Bonus) has to be paid in December, so…