Legislation of Costa Rica

List of laws and regulations

Commercial Code (Codigo de Comercio)

Commercial activity

Tax Code (Codigo Fiscal)

taxation

Income Tax Law (Ley del Impuesto sobre la Renta)

Income tax

Real Property Tax Law (Ley de Impuesto de Bienes Inmuebles)

Real property tax

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Tax treaties entered

Germany

Mexico

Spain

Tax Exchange Information Agreement (TIEA)

Argentina

Australia

Canada

Denmark

Ecuador

El Salvador

Faroe Islands

Finland

France

Greenland

Guatemala

Guernsey

Holland

Honduras

Iceland

Mexico

Nicaragua

Norway

South Africa

South Korea

Spain

and Sweden.

List of state regulatory authorities

Commission for the Promotion of Competition

http://www.coprocom.go.cr

Central Bank of Costa Rica

https://www.bccr.fi.cr/SitePages/Inicio.aspx

Ministry of Justice

http://www.mjp.go.cr

Ministry of Finance

https://www.hacienda.go.cr/

Corporate info

Legal system

Based on Spanish Civil Law

Types of entity

Stock Corporation (Sociedad Anónima);
Limited Liability Company (Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada);
Public Limited Company (Sociedad Anónima Abierta; S.A.A.);
Limited Partnership (Sociedad en Comandita Simple);
General Partnership (Sociedad en Nombre Colectivo)

Shelf companies permitted

Yes

Incorporation timescale for a new company

2-3 days

Company suffix

Sociedad Anónima (S.A.)

Sensitive words

“Bank”, “Finance”, “Building Society”, “Chamber of Commerce”, “Chartered”, “Cooperative”, “Imperial”, “Insurance”, “Municipal”, “Royal”, ‘Trust Company”, “Trustee Company” or related words

Cyrillic alphabet permitted in company name

No

Local registered office

Yes

Local registered agent

Yes

Information to be kept at the registered office

Copy of the entire charter of incorporation, register of directors, powers of attorney and legal representation, capital stock of the company

Seal required, type of seal

Not required

Redomiciliation (to, from) permitted

Permitted

Director and secretary

Minimum number of directors

3 (President, Secretary and Treasurer)

Residency requirements for directors

No

Corporate directors permitted

No

Directors’ meetings/frequency/location

Yes / according to articles

Disclosure to local agent

No

Disclosure to public

No

Company secretary required

Yes

Residency requirements for a secretary

No

Qualified secretary required

No

Corporate secretary permitted

No

Shareholder and beneficiary

Minimum number of shareholders

2

Residency requirements for shareholders

No

Corporate shareholder permitted

Yes

Meetings/frequency/location

Yes / annually / no requirements

Disclosure to local agent

No

Disclosure to public

No

Beneficiary info disclosure to

No

Shares and share capital

Minimum authorized share capital

No requirements

Minimum issued share capital

No requirements

Minimum paid share capital

25%

Authorized capital payment deadlines

No requirements

Issued capital payment deadlines

Upon incorporation

Standard currency

CRC

Standard authorized share capital

50 500

Standard par value of shares

1

Shares with no par value permitted

No

Bearer shares permitted

No

Taxes

Personal tax

0-25%

Сorporate tax

30%

Corporate tax (in detail)

Income tax is levied at the rate of 30%. However, for companies with gross income up to CRC 122 145 000, a progressive taxation scale is established from 5% to 20%

Capital gains tax

15%

Capital gains tax. Details

Tax on gains from the sale of assets is levied at the rate of 15%

VAT

13%

VAT. Details

The standard VAT rate is 13%. Reduced rates of 4%, 2% and 1% apply to some goods and services

Withholding tax

15% (dividend), 15% (interest), 25%(royalty)

Other taxes

Social contributions, Property taxes, Real estate tax

Exchange control

No

Government fee

—

Stamp duty

Yes

Accounts

Requirement to prepare accounts

No

Requirement to file accounts

No

Publicly accessible accounts

No

Requirement to file Annual Return

No if the company has no activity in Costa-Rica

Publicly accessible Annual Return

No

Audit required

No

General information shortly

Location

Central America

Total area

51 100 sq. km

Population

4 953 199 (2018)

Capital

San Jose

National currency

Costa Rican colon

Conditional reduction of currency

CRC

Against USD

0,002 (2024)

Climate, average max and min t°

Tropical and subtropical; dry season (December to April); rainy season (May to November); cooler in highlands; avg. maximum temperature (January) +33°; avg. minimum temperature (August) +23°

Time difference from Moscow

- 9 hours

Dialing code

+506

State language

Spanish

Ethnic groups

White 65,8%, mestizo 13,65%, mulatto 6,72%, Indian 2,4%, black 1,03%, Asian 0,21%, etc.

Literacy rate

96%

History

Costa-Rica was discovered in 1502 by Christopher Columbus during his fourth voyage to America. Originally these territories were inhabited by the Indians. Spanish colonization started in 1530. Lack of natural resources and climate of the country became the reason why it was mainly poor immigrants from Spain who inhabited Costa Rica. This caused growth of small and medium households in the country. Costa-Rica declared itself an independent state in 1821 and before long it founded the Federal Republic of Central America with Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Salvador. In 1844 the first Constitution was adopted. In the following periods of the history of Costa-Rica several presidents came to power. In 2010 Laura Chinchilla won at the presidential elections and became the first woman president in the history of Costa-Rica.

Credit rating

B

Government type

Democratic republic

Executive branch

President and the Cabinet

Legislative branch

Unicameral Legislative Assembly (57 seats)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court;appellate courts; district courts

Unemployment

20% (2020)

GDP per capita rank

62 (2019)

Corruption perceptions index rank

47 (2018)

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