If you’re planning a move to Costa Rica…congratulations! You’re about to embark on—to borrow a phrase from Bill and Ted—a “most excellent adventure”. Costa Rica is brimming with beauty and opportunity and that pura vida lifestyle everyone envies. As you plan your move, you’ll need to make plenty of big decisions. Will you live in the city or a charming beach community? How much space...
Some of us dream of moving to a tropical country and, with so many of us working remotely, this dream has the potential to become reality. Others imagine retiring to a sunny locale and spending lazy days strolling along beaches and warm nights dining in quaint local eateries. But it’s hard to imagine a place that could realize our dream without wiping out our bank account…until you consider Costa...
It’s about that time. You’re ready for a change, an adventure, or to make a financial investment for your future. You’ve gone over all the possible locations and your heart has led you to tropical Costa Rica (we don’t blame you). Whether it be the lush jungles or the gorgeous coastlines, the abundant wildlife or endless adventures, the affordable health care or you just want to be a part of the...
As you know, with the approval of law #9416 and its regulations, you must proceed with the mandatory disclosure for corporations and legal entities, submitting the requested records to the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR). Scheduled of submission deadlines for the corporations for this first submission: To obtain a digital signature card, “firma digital”, interested parties must make an...
For many years property owners in Costa Rica never had to worry about Capital Gains Tax when selling their Costa Rican real estate. The existing law only applied capital gains tax to real estate developers that were in the business of developing and selling real estate. Everybody else was exempt. Recent changes to the Costa Rican tax laws implemented an across the board Capital Gains Tax (Ganancias de...
Text translated, adapted for English, and taken from the Costa Rican national newspaper La Republica. This article was published on Monday, December 10th, 2018. It was written by Costa Rican lawyer Douglas Soto. For the original Spanish version follow this link: https://www.larepublica.net/noticia/registro-de-transparencia-o-beneficiarios-finales As a mechanism to provide the State with more tools to...
The purpose of this blog is to provide you, our clients, with detailed information regarding the Luxury Home Tax, formally identified as the "Solidarity Tax to Strengthen Housing Programs" 1. What is the Luxury Home Tax? The luxury home tax is levied on residential properties with a construction value exceeding $ 216,500.00 (fixed or permanent installations), regardless of its regular, occasional or...
The 2018 Elections As you may or may not have known this past April the Costa Rican legislature had to take an important decision at their government elections; whether they took the right or wrong decision is up to them and it won’t be the topic of this blog. On the contrary, what will be talking about is something that relates to us and our money: taxes, taxes and more taxes. As we all know Costa Rica...
1. They work for an agency. We see many people in the area hawking properties. Your local taxi driver will likely offer a ton of properties on your way from the airport. If you buy a cold coconut in the street, well, that guy probably has something more to sell you. A REAL-tor will be working for or own a brokerage here in Costa Rica. We strongly advise that you don’t buy a property from a taxi driver,...