Home › Forums › Costa Rica Living Forum › Active & inactive corporations
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March 11, 2013 at 12:00 am #165796JacksonMember
I am looking for feedback on active and inactive corporations. When filing the yearly tax declaration the fee is $200.00USD. for inactive companies and $400.00 for active companies. As per my lawyers request I have sent $200.00 for an inactive corp. Note: I have had the corporation for over five years, the purpose of the company is strictly ownership of a small acreage in S.W. Costa Rica which I hope to put a house on someday in the future. The law firm that I deal with has now stated that the C.R. government requires S400.00 this year for an inactive company and that the law firm wants additional $200.00 to re register me as an inactive company. Are there other members with inactive companies having this same experience.
March 12, 2013 at 2:31 am #165797maravillaMemberuh, something’s fishy. i have an inactive corp that holds my house. i paid $190 this year for that privilege. your lawyer has some ‘splainin’ to do.
March 12, 2013 at 1:34 pm #165798DavidCMurrayParticipantmaravilla has it right. Something doesn’t sound right.
The only thing that matters as far as the annual corporation tax is concerned is how the corporation is legitimately registered in the National Registry. If it’s registered as an “active” corporation (even though it may have no activity whatsoever), then the proper tax is at the higher level. It may be a legal fiction, but that registered status is what governs.
There should be no problem changing the status of your corporation, however. If your attorney cannot do this for a reasonable fee, you might shop around for an alternative. The attorney who created the corporation has no special standing with respect to it. You can have any attorney you wish do the corporation’s work.
March 12, 2013 at 2:53 pm #165799maravillaMemberif your corp was originally registered as inactive, its status cannot be changed with the wave of a wand. it sounds like your lawyer is overcharging you — if you corp is STILL listed as inactive, then the fee is $190 ma’ o meno’
March 12, 2013 at 4:48 pm #165800JacksonMemberThanks Maravilla and David,
The previous year I paid for an inactive company. Something just does not seem right I think I will get advise from another lawyer.
JackMarch 12, 2013 at 5:09 pm #165801maravillaMembergood idea. sometimes the lawyers here think they can run a number on your for whatever reason. you always have to do your homework so you don’t get screwed by the very people you are paying to protect you.
March 12, 2013 at 5:30 pm #165802costaricabillParticipantTo find out if you have any taxes due, apparently in any form, go to Rigistro National at:
http://196.40.56.20/consultasic/wf_consultajuridicas.aspx
click on CONSULTA and select “Personas Juridicas” you can enter the cedula number of your property and click on the “Consultar Sociedades” button below.
March 12, 2013 at 6:32 pm #165803watchdogMember[quote=”costaricabill”]To find out if you have any taxes due, apparently in any form, go to Registro Nacional at:
http://196.40.56.20/consultasic/wf_consultajuridicas.aspx
click on CONSULTA and select “Personas Juridicas” you can enter the cedula number of your property and click on the “Consultar Sociedades” button below.[/quote]
I would suggest using this link to check what you owe for the annual Corporation Tax for your Company: http://www.rnpdigital.com/index.htm Click on the button Consulta al Impuesto de Persona Juridica – enter the cedula juridica number of your Company (3-101-…… or 3-102-……) and you’ll findout the amount owing in colones.March 15, 2013 at 3:01 am #165804sstarkeyMemberTip for all:
Make sure you’re not wastefully paying Corp Fees, plus filing Tax Returns for an “Active” Corp that should, technically, be “Inactive”.
I got stuck in this trap for a few years due to my naiveté / inaction in my dealings with my attorney.
If you need to change the Corp’s status to Inactive, there is paperwork involved, but well worth the trouble to do it.
March 15, 2013 at 11:32 pm #165805lvc1028Member[quote=”jackson”]I am looking for feedback on active and inactive corporations. When filing the yearly tax declaration the fee is $200.00USD. for inactive companies and $400.00 for active companies. As per my lawyers request I have sent $200.00 for an inactive corp. Note: I have had the corporation for over five years, the purpose of the company is strictly ownership of a small acreage in S.W. Costa Rica which I hope to put a house on someday in the future. The law firm that I deal with has now stated that the C.R. government requires S400.00 this year for an inactive company and that the law firm wants additional $200.00 to re register me as an inactive company. Are there other members with inactive companies having this same experience.[/quote]
This is NOT correct. Your lawyer is doing something screwy. Corporations with only real estate in them are classified inactive. I just sent in the $ for my fees and they were $189 or so per my lawyer. You can also go online and it’ll show you the corp fees due plus any interest, if due. I would look that up and then mention it to your lawyer. Possibly, that is his fee for completing the transaction (which would be VERY high). Or could this include 2012 also, if you did not pay them?
BTW, I formed my corp and bought my land in 2012. I am having great difficulty finding out what tax forms I have to file for the IRS for 2012. The IRS was useless and said they give NO info regarding foreign corps. Since you have had your land and corp for 5 years, how do you claim this on your 1040? What forms do you file? Do you have to claim the corp and do you have to claim the land as a foreign asset? Is that dependent on the land value?
March 17, 2013 at 5:00 am #165806elindermullerMember[quote=”jackson”]I am looking for feedback on active and inactive corporations. When filing the yearly tax declaration the fee is $200.00USD. for inactive companies and $400.00 for active companies. As per my lawyers request I have sent $200.00 for an inactive corp. Note: I have had the corporation for over five years, the purpose of the company is strictly ownership of a small acreage in S.W. Costa Rica which I hope to put a house on someday in the future. The law firm that I deal with has now stated that the C.R. government requires S400.00 this year for an inactive company and that the law firm wants additional $200.00 to re register me as an inactive company. Are there other members with inactive companies having this same experience.[/quote]
Maybe your corp. was registered as Active by accident before ? How much did you pay last year ? If it was inactive you paid approx. 150 and now will pay 200 $. If it was active you paid 300 last year and now would pay 400. In this case you can change it to inactive after paying the 400 Dollars. You can check the amount on the BCR webpage or on http://www.rnpdigital.com by typing in your corp. number
March 17, 2013 at 1:52 pm #165807DavidCMurrayParticipant[quote=”loraine”]Corporations with only real estate in them are classified inactive. [/quote]
This is actually not correct. Corporations are active or inactive based upon how they are registered in the National Registry. If they are registered as “active”, they are liable for the active corporate tax until such time as they are re-registered as “inactive”. A corporation can be nothing more than the holder of a piece of real estate, with no economic activity whatsoever, and still be registered as “active” and liable for the full tax rate.
It’s entirely a matter of how the corporation is registered in the National Registry and nothing more.
March 17, 2013 at 7:04 pm #165808elindermullerMemberThe moment one legalizes the books of the corporation (until last year it was at the tax department, now it is at the national registry in San Jose) this is the moment to declare the corp active or inactive. Not all attorneys who create corps automatically buy and legalize the books. We have seen many corp owners hiring an accountant for the books, and the accountant, stupidly, registered the corp. as active. Which did not matter until now that they have to pay the corp tax.
January 3, 2014 at 5:50 pm #165809lyncotaParticipantI am reactivating this thread. In response to the original post, I just went to pay my annual corporation tax at BCR. The last 2 years, no problem. Both times, I payëd the reduced inactive corporation rate. This year, for some reason, they have us listed as an äctive corporation and say that we owe the entire approx 400.00. I am getting nowhere with the links listed when I plug in my corporation number. Any ideas as to what is going on- Thanks.
January 4, 2014 at 7:16 pm #165810costaricabillParticipant[quote=”lyncota”]I am reactivating this thread. In response to the original post, I just went to pay my annual corporation tax at BCR. The last 2 years, no problem. Both times, I payëd the reduced inactive corporation rate. This year, for some reason, they have us listed as an äctive corporation and say that we owe the entire approx 400.00. I am getting nowhere with the links listed when I plug in my corporation number. Any ideas as to what is going on- Thanks.[/quote]
I just checked as well, and one of my corporations also went from inactive to active status!
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