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I was thinking more like she would be a great fishing partner because she obviously knows how to handle a cast net!
[quote=”kwhite1″]
I have a Verizon IPhone 4S, because I am a long time subscriber they unlocked my phone and I have the international data plan. It worked in Haiti and Belize while on mission trips. I just checked with Verizon and they state it should work in Costa Rica as well. The key might be that it is unlocked, but we will see. Worst case I can buy a local mini SIM card and get it to work that way. We will see said the blind man.[/quote]It may work, but you won’t like the rates. Best bet is to buy a prepaid sim card in the airport upon arrival!
Sprite (or anyone else, I guess) – I have recently been hearing bits and pieces about the benefits of becoming “sovereign”. I figured if anyone would know anything about that, it would be you!
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]Bill, what prevents you from wire transferring money from a Costa Rican bank to one in the U.S?
[/quote]Hi David –
Absolutely nothing “prohibits” the transfer (as far as I know) but what happens (again, as far as I know) FACTA requires the recipient bank to withhold 30% of the incoming funds until such time as the recipient individual can prove to the IRS or Treasury Dept., or Homeland Security, or ATF, or whomever that there is no skulduggery associated with the international transfer.I have every check, every invoice, every contractor’s request for payment, every wire transfer document, etc. associated with the acquisition of our property and the design, construction, furnishing and decorating of our home in Samara – but I’m not sure that will be enough for the tax gestapos.
So, in an effort to having to avoid all of the hassles associated with the international transfer(s), I strongly prefer having the funds transferred within, rather than into, the States.
David, you have probably figured out by now that politically I am a bit to the right of Attila the Hun, but when it comes to monies that are rightfully mine and/or will belong to my wife, kids and grand kids, then I become quite the Libertarian!
Even with the funds in a US bank, can “big bro” place a levy on it? Sure, but they have to be a lot quicker and have a lot more reasons to do so – and at the same time I still have 100% of my money as opposed to being in the position of trying to “recapture” the 30% that “big bro” has already seized.
It is not totally unlike your mortgage interest and (I think) real estate tax deductions you have reported that you claim here in CR. I’m not sure that those will pass IRS muster, but I applaud your creativity in claiming them to avoid taxes.
After all, there is a huge difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion. One can be defended as “an honest mistake” while the other is much more difficult to defend.
[u][b]TOTALLY UNRELATED[/b][/u] – Please pray for the families of those that suffered the loss of loved ones, especially the children, today in the horrific events in Newport CT.
[quote=”critterhill”]If I buy a home in Costa Rica from an American with a bank account here in the states, can we keep our money transfer here in the states and the paperwork in Costa Rica to complete the transaction?
Would this be allowed? Recommended?[/quote]
Yes, if you buy a house from someone that has an account in the States, the money can be transferred between the two of you in the States. Obviously, to make this happen, each of you (buyer and seller) must have competent attorneys here in CR.
I have been involved in a couple of sales transactions here in CR that were handled in that manner. At first, the attorney for the other side said that it could not be done, but we made it very clear that was the only way that the transaction could (would) go forward and he eventually “found a way”.
If/when we sell our home here I hope the buyer will be from the US and I will insist that the monies be deposited in my my US bank, otherwise I’m not sure how we could ever get the monies back to the States – – – except coming here and taking back $10,000 or less each trip, and/or ATM withdrawals every day at US-based ATMs.
[quote=”Jaymog39″]I am planning a 2-3 week trip to Costa Rica w/ my wife in Febuary 2013. It will be our first time. We would like to see as much as possible but would also like to rest some. We love the outdoors and particularly the ocean. Sailing, fishing, snorkeling ect.. We would even love to try surfing (it’s on the Bucket List). We would like to stay perhaps in a small village near the water perhaps were we could drive to see other parts of Costa Rica. Any sugjestions?
[/quote]please check your private message inbox for a couple of messages
crb[quote=”kwhite1″][quote=”Scott”]Of course, but you will still have to go through hoops with the Costa Rican banks to show the “source of funds.”
For more on that, please see this article [url=https://www.welovecostarica.com/members/3954.cfm]U.S. Laws Causing Huge Delays For North Americans Investing in Costa Rica Real Estate With US Dollars.[/url]
And funny you should mention HSBC (although HSBC Costa Rica has been acquired and is now known as [url=http://www.davivienda.cr/]Banco Davivienda[/url] because …
If you bring more than $10,000 into Costa Rica without reporting it, you’ll have serious problems but in speaking about HSBC in the words of Matt Taibi:
“Here we have [url=http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33313.htm]a bank that laundered $800 million of drug money[/url], and they can’t find a way to put anybody in jail for that. That sends an incredible message, not just to the financial sector but to everybody. It’s an obvious, clear double standard, where one set of people gets to break the rules as much as they want and another set of people can’t break any rules at all without going to jail.”
It’s a wonderful world…
Scott
Money makes the world go ’round.
But if the $ is set up in the US (Miami) in Costa Rica denominations, the withdraws in CR should not be an issue. My father in law did that with the Panama Dollar (Balboa) and did not have an issue?
[/quote][/quote]
You will be hearing from others on this forum that bank with HSBC and will advise you that there is no “connection” between HSBC “US” and HSBC “CR”, so (as a non HSBC customer)I will not delve into that.
What I will tell you is that if you choose to convert your US dollars into colones in the states (wherever, bank, airport or whatever), be prepared to lose 15-20% on the exchange!
[quote=”pebo1″]Looking for a nice hard sand beach which is nice for walking and not too crowded on the Pacific.
Took a drive to Jaco for lunch but the beach is not so attractive, would driving down further toward Quepos provide a better beach setting?
Thank you.[/quote]
Where are you coming from? Is this a “day trip” or a “journey”. There are beautiful, almost deserted beaches all along the Nicoya Peninsula!
If I may, might I suggest that “never pay in US $” is not ALWAYS the case.
If you find yourself in a restaurant that has its menu priced in dollars, you DEFINITELY want to pay in dollars. Otherwise, they get you on the exchange rate going the other way, from dollars colones.
On a recent trip into SJO my wife and I were in a nice restaurant near Escazu and they had a dollar-priced menu. When they brought the check in dollars ($52.00) I asked for the amount in colones and the waiter came back with the calculated colone price of 27,300.
They were converting at a rate of 525/$1.00 and the bank rate at the time was about 493/$1.00.
At 493 the conversion would have been 25,630ish. Not a big difference, but if they pull it off several times a night, it adds up…..[b]especially if Scott shows up for dinner![/b]
[quote=”rosiemaji”]No, you do not. They will ask to see your return ticket at the airport but when you show them your Temporary Residency Dimex Card they will ask no more because you are now a resident of Costa Rica. As long as the Residency card is not expired, you are good to go with only a one way ticket. Last year I came to Costa Rica with only a one way ticket as I had not purchased the return one yet and I had no problems after I showed them my Temporary Residency card.[/quote]
As I have reported before, I have been traveling on one way tickets for over two years by showing my “Expediate” document – although, by the way, no where on that document do the words “Costa Rica” appear!
David –
If you “employ” your gardner, are you obligated to pay him the aquinaldo?
We have a housekeeper that comes 1 or 2 days a week. We share here with 2 other homes in our neighborhood, and we also split what she asked us to pay for her insurance.
I keep a log of the days she comes and what we pay her and for the past 2 years I have paid her a calculated sum and had her sign a receipt for the “aquinaldo”. I don’t mind paying her and the amount would be the same if it was only a “bonus” instead of a legally mandated “13th month”.[quote=”costaricafinca”][b]David,[/b] friends from Naranjo took the Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqu trip earlier this year and thoroughly enjoyed it.
We saw really close up, a couple of pretty big caymans at the bridge crossing the beach at Playa Samara[/quote]Finca, I think you mean the bridge at the east end of Carrillo Beach, there is no road nor bridge that is that close to Samara Beach.
And unfortunately, since the local land “heaved” about 1 meter on 5-Sept during “the big one”, those mangroves near the bridge in Carrillo are now high and dry, and to my knowledge no one has seen our reptilian friends since. They must have headed further inland, away from the beach to enjoy the deeper waters of that little stream (now less than a meter wide at the bridge).
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]
The point I was going for, Scott, is that all the history, both ancient and recent, is irrelevant. It is the facts as they are today, the current situation, that must be resolved.Whether the crusaders were doing God’s work in the thirteenth century or whether it was the Muslims is meaningless. Whether Britain had a right to cede anything to anyone doesn’t matter today. They did it. It stuck. There’s no changing it.
All that matters today is that an accommodation be found that makes reasonable allowance for the legitimate interests of both the Jews and the Palestinians who are living there today.
[/quote]At last, a voice of sanity and reason.
