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Don’t think it was for you Terry but bienvenido a Costa Rica – Welcome
By the way, your bother Larry sends his best wishes. You might want to send him a quick email.
Take it easy in those ‘cheap and cheerful’ joints please! I don’t want to hear stories from you about how you saved $100 staying in some cheap hovel to discover nine hours later that your $3,000 laptop went missing – PLEASE!
Scott – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comThanks for your kind comments.
The new highway WILL BE real. They have built some of the bridges and have been working on buying the land for the road. But there is no road yet!
They will supposedly be starting the actual road this year but, we have heard that before – many times.
This future highway will be the subject of an article soon and it will be featured prominently.
You may also wish to read Costa Rica’s Invisible New International Airport (??) at
I do NOT know the Orotina area well enough to be able to give you an educated opinion as to whether a B&B would survive there or not …
Scott
You will find the laws of the Colegio Federado de Ingenieros y Arquitectos de Costa Rica at
I have just uploaded the Codigo Sismico de Costa Rica (1986) to the Download Library which you can find at
We are trying to find out if there’s a more up to date one for you.
If you want to search on the internet, you need to search for Codigo Sismico de Costa Rica
Scott – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comThe present grumblings are always bigger and most disastrous – in our minds – than the last one…
And talking about turnips – let’s not started on our respective governments doing “irrational” things.
Scott
It doesn’t sound silly at all Ron, I have rescued dozens of dogs here and love all animals…
The good news (bad news is below) is that it’s easy to bring your pets to Costa Rica … You may wish to read the following three articles:
1. Costa Rica Pets – Top ten pet tips to ensure a healthy, happy & stress-free trip at
2. Costa Rica Pets – Veterinarian Tips on Importing Your Pets at and…
3. Costa Rica Pets – Documents Required at
Please CONFIRM with the veterinarian that this information is still up to date and yes! This all has to be done in advance of your trip but not too much in advance.
The bad news is that Shih Tzus are notoriously problematical when it comes to learning Spanish.
Scott
Since Costa Rica experiences regular earthquake tremors, the building codes are in fact very strict.
Do you read and speak Spanish fluently?
Scott
Jim
I’m not quite sure why people would over react to this. The United States IRS has been ‘training’ various parts of the Costa Rica government in tax collection for quite some time.
Can we really be surprised if Costa Rica now proposes to tax people on their worldwide income? I wonder where they got that idea from?
For people with plans to retire in Costa Rica, unless I am missing something, there really doesn’t appear to be too much to worry about.
At first glance, it does appear that real estate speculators will be expected to pay some taxes that they may not have paid in the past but I doubt very much if it will be meaningful.
Your property taxes in the USA probably go up more every year than any increases you’ll eventually be expected to pay in Costa Rica.
And don’t they have capital gains taxes in the USA? Although they do state that there may be a 10% capital gains tax on the profits made in the sale of an asset (home) in Costa Rica, we have no idea yet what exemptions may be tied to those transactions.
Didn’t the USA also donate lots of computers to the Costa Rican immigration service? Hmm! I wonder why?
And for those real estate buyers that have declared a ridiculously low value on their real estate to try and avoid transfer taxes which is called TAX FRAUD in America, those people may suffer. So what? They’re not contributing anything to Costa Rica, they are STEALING.
I KNOW this does not apply to you Jim but if anyone reading this is planning on coming to Costa Rica with an eye on illegally evading taxes due to the Costa Rican government, stay home please!
As for “will it happen” in the form that it is presently? That’s anybody’s guess but I would suggest that we’ll see a number of changes slipped in there before it’s finalized.
Time will tell! I have learned that in Costa Rica, instead of panicking about ‘what might happen’, sit back, relax and let’s wait and see what shape it’s in when it is officially announced. Only then can you make a sensible, educated and well thought out decision.
I know that may not help too much if someone is in the final planning stages of a business venture here but with people like Intel employing over 2,000 people here and investing HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of dollars here, I don’t think Costa Rica will do anything too drastic.
A few years ago everybody was fretting about possible new income requirements for pensioners being changed to $3,000 per month – What happened in the end? No change.
There probably will be big changes with the new fiscal plan but we don’t yet know what is definite…
I’m sure there are some lovely places in Panama and Chile for people to live in but, basing your residency and ‘quality of life’ on the ‘possibility’ that you might pay slightly more in taxes doesn’t seem to be a very sensible idea to me… Especially since all Americans are taxed on their worldwide income anyway and if you’re not, you’re breaking US laws which would get you into really serious problems. (Don’t forget those computers at immigration mentioned above…!)
As in most countries, with the right professional advice, I’m guessing that even when the new fiscal plan is adopted, you’ll be able to conduct your affairs very profitably indeed in Costa Rica.
Lastly, please also do not underestimate the Ticos! Many people get all warm and fuzzy when they talk about Ticos as if they are just sweet, kind and very simple people which they are. However, it’s been my experience that when you get to know them (which can take years) you will discover that they are incredibly intelligent, well-read and know a lot more about the rest of the world than 95% of the expats that I meet.
I do not believe that they will do anything serious that will have a truly negative impact on the investment environment here.
Scott – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comIs this a business that you have been successful with in the past?
Do you have any idea what sort of revenue per client is possible in that business?
Could you then find out how many possible clients are in that geographical area and determine what the possible market potential is like?
Scott
This is a discussion forum, designed so that we “discuss” matters in the forum so that we can all learn from those experiences.
In doing it this way, rather than asking people to email you (which I have deleted) – people who have been through the ‘build your own home’ experience do not have to repeat their story 100 times to others like you who probably all have similar questions.
I KNOW ‘Maravilla’ well enough to know that the last things she wants is to answer over 200 emails per day which is what I typically receive …
Please keep the information in the forum or the people we can really learn from will not contribute for fear of being flooded by emails …
Best wishes
Scott – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comI certainly can not answer this question MarilynSunshine and I honestly don’t know if we have anyone on the forum that can…
If you would like me to recommend a health insurance experts – someone who understands the local INS insurance coverage as well as private health insurance just email me
His English is OK but not perfect!
Scott
I don’t ‘think’ (I do NOT know for sure) that you need a license for massage.
You don’t need a license to sell real estate either but, having said that, “if” you are caught working in Costa Rica in any capacity and you do not have the correct residency papers, you could get into some serious problems.
If you are serious about moving, living, retiring, working in Costa Rica, you are going to need an attorney to help you. I would encourage you to ask them these questions BEFORE you sell everything ‘back home’ with the hope that you can live and work here….
Scott
