2009 Costa Rica Tax Documents
from Ministerio de Hacienda
Due to a high volume of interest resulting in slow response times from the Ministry's Web site, several documents are available here for access. Links to the original documents are included, below. Further information and discussion about the new Solidarity Tax law is also available.
Copies of Official Documents
- Mapas de valoración de terrenos (Map of Savegre District)
(If your property is not in the Aguirre Cantón of Puntarenas,
additional maps are availble from the Hacienda web site.) - Programa para calcular el Impuesto Solidario (Building Valuation)
-
Software for valuing land and buildings
(version 1.2.3 is only available for Windows XP / 2000 / Vista) Note: Installing and using this can be a little tricky. If you have questions or problems with the software, use the email link below to send me a message. Note that I am neither an Attorney nor a Civil Engineer, and can not advise you on the specifics of your property.Start by calculating the value of structures and other improvements. If you determine that you will owe tax (your building[s] are valued at more than 100M colones) you will need to calculate land value. To use this software for land valuation, you will need the Hacienda land value map for your area (see links, above) and a copy of the Plano for your land.
Be aware that there are valid exemptions for rural land due to use for agraculture, and for land that is too steep or forested for building.
- Software Installation Document (in Spanish)
- Software Usage Document (in Spanish, of course)
- Translation of some terms used in the valuation application
- From Microsoft:
Visual Basic Runtime Environment (ver 6.0 sp6)
If you have problems running the Hacienda software application, it may be that you need the lastest "VBRE."
Other Resources
- Eleventh Hour Amendments to the Solidarity Tax Law
- Support Proposal from Facio y Cañas to create a Costa Rica bank account, collect tax funds, and make payments to Hacienda. Optionally, a property valuation can be done.
- Opinion document by Lic. Gabriela Barrantes (Must rotate clockwise)
- Another support program is available from Stewart Title who
have partnered with Deloitte and Touche. Deloitte will consult
with property owners to assist in determinng value and, based
on information you give to them, will enter this into the software
provided by the Hacienda Ministry (see software link, above).
After this, Stewart Title will create and maintain a Costa Rican bank account, collect the tax from you, and then forward the payment to the Tax Ministry. This service runs $250 per year. Contact Stewart Title for further details.
- Many other attorneys and CPAs are offering similar programs. If you have an attorney here, check with them to see what they offer. Just remember that no one here, as of 15-Dec-2009, knows what the reality of this situation is. Be very careful hiring anyone who claims to have all the answers.
- Recent articles report that, of the 10,000 luxury property owners who are expected to file, only a few have done so. La Nacion reports only 14 filings (17-Dec), while the Tico Times and Inside Costa Rica report that 600 people have filed (18-Dec-2009).
- A Quick Tax Estimator page is available to calculate potential tax in various currencies. This is quick, but your estimation of property value will almost certainly be different from the Hacienda calculations. Using replacement costs or market values will likely overstate your tax due. (Sorry, but this page does not work when using Internet Explorer.)
Links to the original tax documents on the Hacienda Web site: Questions or problems?