The one annual tax expense that will be incurred with all property ownership, is the Municipal Property Taxes, which are payable to the Municipality where the property is located. These taxes are [...]
The question often arises whether the registered property title should be held in the purchaser's name or a Costa Rica holding company specifically incorporated for [...]
All of the dispute resolution processes tend to be very time-consuming and costly. However, if a negotiated settlement of a dispute is not possible, certainly proceeding to a Conciliation, Mediation, or Arbitration proceeding to resolve a dispute, is preferable to a [...]
You may believe that Costa Rica, as a tropical country, with a bountiful rainfall in the wet season, would have no issues related to the supply of potable water. Unfortunately, in many parts of the country, this is not the case. Your concern for the availability of potable water will equal, if not [...]
From a residential and commercial real estate point of view, these Real Estate Market Cycles are largely driven by the state of the U.S. Economy at any given time. There is a lag-time of approximately eighteen months for the economic effects in the U.S. to have an effect [...]
This is a relatively new way of living in Costa Rica, unlike countries such as Canada and the U.S., where condominium developments have existed for some time. The term “Condominium” in Costa Rica refers to a legal property entity registered in the National Registry as such, having specifications on a Master Plan as to the dimensions, location, and the number of condominium lots, or [...]
Costa Rica has the Roman Civil Law as its Legal System, where the requirements for the formality of documentation are much different than those similar requirements under English Common Law, which is the Legal System predominantly utilized in Canada and the United States. In Common [...]
As a foreigner living in Costa Rica and meeting the Immigration Law requirements to work, the Income Tax Laws only apply to income, whether it be income derived from salary, wages, investment, or other income sources, earned within the territory [...]
As with most countries, Costa Rica has some particular laws and requirements to be met for a foreigner to legally work earning a salary, wages, or a commission income. These laws and requirements are designed to protect the Costa Rica citizenry from having unqualified foreigners illegally taking employment [...]
Costa Rica is a tropical country with two distinct seasons—dry and wet. However, within these seasons, there is a significant variation between different regions of the Country. The Guanacaste Province on the northwest Pacific Coast is the driest. The Caribbean Coast has [...]
