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[quote=”CHERYLJK”]The last post about generators was in 2012, so I am asking if anyone currently uses a generator.
My hubby wants to know what brand you use (and like, hopefully), and what type of fuel it runs on.[/quote]
Yes, we have a 15kw diesel generator. There are 2 others in town, at each of the banks. A friend of mine has a 15kw propane driven generator. I am told, that propane sets only generate about 90% of the rated capacity, but that should be verified.
[quote=”CHERYLJK”]
I just thought I’d mention something about shipping a 40 foot container. I have written about it before and promised to “tell all” after the deed is done, but that probably won’t be until next year. Anyway, the cheapest quote we got was roughly a little over $9000. This includes the customs duty, and we will not be shipping a car. Everyone else quoted at least $2000 more, and not all companies included the customs duty. Our container will ship from the East coast of the U.S. I forget which port he said it will leave from, but we live near Philadelphia.[/quote]That’s sounds high compared to what I have been hearing from recent arrivals.
If you haven’t talked to him yet, it may be worth contacting Mike at http://www.shippingcr.com
his email is info@shippingcr.comHe is moving friends from Dallas within next few weeks and they are very happy with his service and price.
I use him for “package shipments” and have been very pleased.
[quote=”CHERYLJK”]
I just thought I’d mention something about shipping a 40 foot container. I have written about it before and promised to “tell all” after the deed is done, but that probably won’t be until next year. Anyway, the cheapest quote we got was roughly a little over $9000. This includes the customs duty, and we will not be shipping a car. Everyone else quoted at least $2000 more, and not all companies included the customs duty. Our container will ship from the East coast of the U.S. I forget which port he said it will leave from, but we live near Philadelphia.[/quote]That’s sounds high compared to what I have been hearing from recent arrivals.
If you haven’t talked to him yet, it may be worth contacting Mike at http://www.shippingcr.com
his email is info@shippingcr.comHe is moving friends from Dallas within next few weeks and they are very happy with his service and price.
I use him for “package shipments” and have been very pleased.
[quote=”km1204″]We received our residency and the process was not easy until we contact
Jose Alfredo Campos
tel. 506 22010300
cel 506 60518796
Yes, you can be in CR only one day of the year.
For good,honest and not expensive help contact this emigration lawyer[/quote]Based on your recommendation I contacted Sr. Campos with what appears to be a very simple request relating to the renewal of my cedula. I was disappointed to receive the following response
“Unfortunately there is nothing I could assist you at this point. Otherwise, I will be glad to assist you.”All I was asking was for him, a runner or an associate to check on something in my immigration file, and I made it very clear that I was willing to pay him to do it.
[quote=”Margaritamomma”]We purchased a condo which is in a corporation. We were told by both our realtor and our US tax preparer that we did not have to report it to the IRS. After reading this forum, I am deeply concerned that our failure to report this will result in huge penalties. Has anyone had experience with this? Any recommendations for good tax accountants who are familiar with these issues? Kind recommendations would be appreciated Thank you[/quote]
I think you will find that if you file IRS Form #5471 (reporting that you own or control a foreign corporation) and “possibly” FBAR form, FinCEN Report 114 (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts).
I say “possibly” on the second form because filing of the FBAR form is only mandatory if certain thresholds are met or exceeded.On the IRS website and link
http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Report-of-Foreign-Bank-and-Financial-Accounts-FBARyou will find the following qualification statement:
[b]Who Must File an FBAR[/b]
United States persons are required to file an FBAR if:
1. the United States person had a financial interest in or signature authority over at least one financial account located outside of the United States; and
2. the aggregate value of all foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time during the calendar year reported.I would still check with a tax professional, but the information cited above is what I have learned and experienced so far – knock on wood!
[quote=”rosiemaji”]The property taxes would be based on the $200,000 investment also and would include an extra amount in the form of a luxury tax.[/quote]
I would suggest that it would be better to say “The property taxes would be based on the $200,000 investment also and [b][i][u]could possibly be subject to[/u][/i][/b] an extra amount in the form of a luxury tax.
The calculation of value for purposes of determining if a home and property reach the threshold for payment of the “luxury tax” has very little to do with what you paid for it.[quote=”whyworry”]……. If you have had any transactions at all since the tax was put in place your corporation is active. If you have have not had any activity your corporation should be inactive. To change back to inactive it is a long process that is done by an attorney. I hope this has helped you. Good Luck !!!!!!![/quote]
As I understand it, “Active” versus “Inactive” really has nothing to do with “recent activity”.
As an example, when my son passed away year before last, we removed him as an officer of our 4 corporations and transferred the stock that was in his name to his children. That “activity” did not trigger any change in any of the 4 corporations Inactive status.
Then last year, I transferred the ownership of the assets of 2 of the corporations into one of the remaining corporations, we all resigned as officers and legal representatives of the 2 “non asset holding” corporations and dissolved those 2 corporations before the deadline to do so. The transfer of assets into the remaining corporations was definitely an “activity” that involved the Nacional Registry, but again, it did not change the Inactive status of either remaining corporation.
If the corporation owns, operates or manages a commercial activity, it is “Active”. If the sole purpose of the corporation is to own a non-commercial item or items (property, house, condo, boat, car, ATV, legal weapon, etc.) then it should be classified as “Inactive”. If it is “Inactive” you must still oay the tax – if you don’t, your Big Tico Brother can seize your corporation and anything that it owns Big Brother then owns and you are SOL!
I will join the chorus of those offering you the best advice so far = = go get your corporate books from your current attorney and get a new attorney!!!!
[quote=”pebo1″]So this begs the question. Should we keep the corporations?
Should we dissolve them as perhaps they aren’t worth the tax required annually as they are all inactive and in place for property and vehicles only.[/quote]
As I understand it:
An “active” corporation is one that is “actively” involved in the ownership and or operation of an ongoing commercial business.An “inactive” corporation is one that has ownership in an asset that is not a commercial endeavor – like a house, car, pleasure boat, property, etc.
If you have an “inactive” corporation that owns your property, or your home or car, etc. you want to keep the taxes current, because if you fail to pay the taxes for 3 years, the government MAY dissolve the corporation and seize any (all) assets held (owned) in the corporation’s name.
[quote=”sweikert925″]If I were the head of the Costa Rican tourism office, I would be concerned, but not overly worried. While the demand for tours to Cuba will certainly go up in light of President Obama’s decision, there will probably be no flood of new tourists there since those tourists need hotels to stay at and hotels don’t just sprout up overnight. How many new ones get built and who gets to operate them is still under the control of the Cuban government.
Oh, and don’t get your hopes up about beachfront property for $50,000 either – the Cuban government also still gets to decide about who is able to purchase property there and I strongly doubt they will allow rich gringos to buy up all that beachfront land.[/quote]
Not quite, Sweikert.
Having been there 6 times I can tell you there is no shortage of luxury hotels and luxury hotel rooms! While us Yanks and the Brits have been punishing the poor people of Cuba, many other countries have been active building over the years.
I would say it would be a close race between Cuba and CR as to the number of luxury hotel rooms.
Cuba is home to Paradisus Resorts, Melia, Barcelo, Royalton, Iberostar, Rio Resorts – all of which have 2, 3 or more resorts. Plus there are hotels by SofHotel and others European and Asian flags.
I don’t disagree that US citizens will flock there initially, it is a great place to visit and the people are wonderful. But remember, there are several months a year that Cuba is threatened by hurricanes and when they get hit, the recovery time is much longer than in the States – and unfortunately Cuba gets more than their share of tropical storms and hurricanes.
It might also be of interest for you to learn that it is now legal for Cubans and foreign nationals to own real estate in Cuba. There are not only real estate offices, but real estate ads in the media!
There have been 2 flights a week from several Florida cities into Havana for the past couple of years.[quote=”PeteB”]The wife had her appointment with the CAJA late last week and it was calculated that her monthly payment would be 10,700 colones. It is to be paid directly to the CAJA. This was figured taking my SS income and subtracting all expenses taking her income down to $200. Still have not verified if this is for Gringo’s only or not. – Will let you know as soon as we find out.[/quote]
What expenses did they allow for deduction?
OK, we went to the BCR in Nicoya during the 1st week of October with all of the info. Everything went fine, no problems. Paid the money, got the receipts and a document stating that our new cedulas would be mailed to the Samara Corrreo on/about 4-november. This document also has a tracking number on it, an “EX” number, and 2 phone numbers, one for Correo and one for Migracion.
Uh, it is now 13-december and no sign of the cedulas.
I call the Correo number and give them the EX tracking number, they check their computer and tell me they have not received anything from Migracion – very efficient.
I call the number for Migracion (over and over), put in the extension for questions about cedulas, and get the recorded message that says “this extension is not accepting messages at this moment”.
Any ideas?
[quote=”dbserv”][quote=”Scott”][quote=”dbserv”]Being new to this, I was hoping someone could explain how to calculate the Aguinaldo (spelling that right?) holiday pay, stat holiday pay. anything else that needs to be paid by, I am told December 20? We have a Part time person and can only find information for full time (40+ hours/week). We want to make sure we are doing this right. If anyone could private message me with their phone number, I could call after work during the week or anytime over a weekend. Thanks all! :D[/quote]
Please note that this is a Discussion Forum where we Discuss things together in the Forum so that we can all learn, it is not a private messaging service.
Having said that we have an article on this site that may answer your question:
[url=https://www.welovecostarica.com/public/1263.cfm]Christmas Employee’s Bonus – ‘Aguinaldo’ is mandatory in Costa Rica[/url]
Oh – I’m so sorry, Scott! I just thought I have so many questions, I would be just wasting space here but you are so right! We’re all here to learn so can anyone please tell me how to correctly and legally calculate vacation pay and stat pay for our gardener who works a few hours a week? I was told he needs to be paid nine stats at double time (even if he didn’t work them) and be paid two full weeks vacation pay the same as a full time person working a 40 hour week. If this is true, please let me know. I have tried to find this on the Costa Rican Labour Law sites, but they all address full time people – nothing about part time, occasional or hourly.
[/quote][/quote]
Up front, please know that I am no expert, but for the past 6 years this is what I have done:
1. Add up all of the monies paid to the employee between 1 dec of the previous year and 30 nov of the current year.
2. Divide by 12 to arrive at “one month’s pay” – this is to be paid to the employee, plus
3. Divide the total (#1 above) by 52 to gat the average weekly salary
4. Multiply #3 by 2, to calculate 2 weeks vacation
5. Add #2 and #4 together to arrive at required aquinaldo.
6. I then generously round up and get the employee to sign a receipt or at least sheet of paper that shows the calculation.B way of example, my calculation came to 90,830 colones. I gave the housekeeper 100,000 colones and ask her to sign for it. She was thrilled to do so. Then I scanned the signed paper and filed it on my computer so I know where to find it if the need arises.
Good luck!
[quote=”costaricafinca”]”…… Don’t forget, you will be required to leave CR to renew your tourist visa until you have the necessary paperwork to say that ‘your application is under consideration'[/quote]
Actually, even after you get the “application is under consideration” paperwork (the “Entramite” with your “file number”) you must still leave every 90 days UNLESS you have a Costa Rica driver’s license – which of course you can no longer get UNLESS you have resident status.This 90-day departure is a requirement of the traffic law, not immigration.
The POINT is that you have both tried every angle to make your POINT, to the POINT where you should each realize that it is POINTless to believe that the other will ever believe (or understand) your POINT.
So here is my point – the trouble in Costa Rica is NOT that it doesn’t have enough taxes on the books, the problem is that it fails miserably in the COLLECTION of those taxes. Casa in POINT, the Solidarity Tax, aka Luxury Home Tax. By their own admission, Hacienda is collecting about 25% of the projected amount of that tax. They came out and said they would have 100’s of appraisers out in the field looking for property owners avoiding that tax. I (unfortunately) fell for the threatened penalties for not paying (10 times the tax) and was among the first to pay and have continued each year since – but I can see 4-5 homes from my patio that should be paying and are not.
I know this post is about “Private Caller” and “Private Number”, but I have to share how I handle the “robo” calls that we receive on our Vonage line (US Number that we have had over 25 years). We are on all of the “Do Not Call” lists, but a few still sneak through.
Even if it shows the name or number, I still answer it, and confirm that they have reached me, then I wait for the caller to take their first breath or pause after their first question, and then I leap into action with “Tell me what you are wearing” and go from there. The call is usually terminated after my first response, but sometimes I get a chance to ask several more “personal questions”, although it is hard to stop laughing at how easily they get frustrated and just stammer ahead. If they continue with their prepared routine, I save the best for last….”are you touching yourself, that’s OK, go ahead and touch yourself!
Next time you get one of these calls, give it a try, it’s a lot of fun, and it usually stops the calls from that organization!!
