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Sign up and into the digital registry page:
https://www.rnpdigital.com/shopping/login.jspx' defer onload='
you can type in a name or Id. and you can find out in which corporations they are members (president, fiscal etc.) but you can not find out if they are shareholders.
The government has been pretty creative lately by finding ways to take peoples money. First the corp.tax, then the Marchamo-ripoff, then the license plates, now they want to tax investment money coming in from other countries……..
But, people are creative too and will find their ways around some of those payments. Corporations without assets are left dumped, people buy cheaper cars, money exchange for property purchase can be done in the U.S. etc.I have a policeman-friend who told me not to hurry. I had to buy new plates 18 months ago for RITEVE because the old ones were faded, short time later they invented the ones with the flag on it. So I will wait as long as possible and maybe they find a better way to obtain the plate, not having people 5 days without their cars. Or maybe they do this on purpose, catching people driving without plates and charge them a nice fine.
And those who think now they will buy an oxcart or a horse, I am sure the government will put marchamos on horses and other animals soon.
The end of the story will be that foreigners will invest in other countries and Costa Rica will go back to the 19th century.
I have a friend who has a house by Samara, she has the same experience. In case of emergency it takes weeks for ICE to show up and do repairs.
I have no idea why their service sucks at the beach.
In Tilaran and the Lake Area I have only good experiences with ICE, normally they show up the very same day or the next day. New instalation of phone or electric takes a week or so.[quote=”DavidCMurray”]Again, to Elizabeth’s point . . . Indeed, the import cost for a computer is 13% according to Aerocasillas’ chart. That’s the national sales tax rate and nothing more. Whether you buy a computer at retail here or order it in the States and import it formally (via Aerocasillas or the like), either way the sales tax is in the price.
Elizabeth, if you buy a Dell online, you have the same opportunity to see it in the flesh as if you buy it here, also online. What’s the difference?
And, by the way, the last Dell I bought (online, but while I was in the States) was sold to me by a Costa Rican woman who was sitting in a Dell call center in San Jose. So the experience either way probably wouldn’t be too much different.
[/quote]Well, you know, women like to go shopping, and when I say GO I mean GO. And I would like to see the computer in the store, turned on and working. I had one bad experience, bought a Laptop online, friend brought it to C.R. didn´t even have to pay tax, computer had a blue screen after one hour, he took it back and got the money back, it was quite annoying.
But, if even the stores in C.R., upon my order, buy it online and have it shipped to my place (I doubt they would bring it to Tilaran) then I am really better off to order it online myself and do not have to pay for their profit. This time my friend will do a test run before his trip to C.R., if it does not work they will send it back instead of bringing it to C.R.[quote=”johnnyh”]
Have your friend bring 2 laptops. One on top of the other, no boxes, manuals in another suitcase. Sell one at a profit, but cheaper than at a C.R.store![/quote]Well, what about guarantee ? If I sell a brandnew laptop, the buyer will want guarantee, that´s the problem. I know that I do not have guarantee on my laptop coming from the U.S., unless I fly it back to the U.S. or am I wrong ?
You can buy a Data-Card (Stick) and get a prepaid simcard at ICE. You pay 9000 Colones for 30 days with 1 MB speed.
You can also recharge at the local stores but this gives you only a 512 KB.I know that there is a Dell Dealer in Costa Rica but they do not MAKE the computers. I asked them a few questions about guarantee etc. and a “sales person” answered my e-mail, not answering my questions at all but telling me that when I order a computer online through them (no store to look at models etc.) they order it in the U.S. and it will be delivered to my door (??), to their price off course.
Import tax on computers in C.R. is only a 13 %.
I have been comparing laptops for the last 2 weeks, C.R. vs. U.S. Not only that many models in C.R. are more “primitive” (Windows 7 home basic, made for 3rd world countries 👿 ) but they still cost a hell more.
I have been investigating on the internet and I found a statement that said “the smaller the market, the higher the prices” . Don´t they think that a small market could grow by paying lower prices ? The average Tico buys most of his stuff on credit (Gollo etc.) and at the end he pays twice the cash price (or four times compared to the U.S. Prices). So maybe, if the price was lower at the beginning, those people would have the chance to save money and pay cash, and this way buy better computers and other stuff more often ? Plus have money left to not only eat rice and beans …
End of the Story, I ordered a Laptop with a friend in the U.S. and he will bring it next week 🙂 not without a test run in the U.S. to make sure it is not dead or crashing (blue screen…) the very first day (had that happen before).
For those who want to purchase real estate, and both, seller and buyer, are from the U.S. the solution would be to keep the money in the U.S. Until now buyers have sent money to C.R. and after the closing money was sent back to the U.S. Since the transaction is getting so difficult, we have had cases where the money was kept in the U.S. where it went from the buyers to the sellers account. Only money for fees was sent to C.R. Attorneys can fly to the U.S. to pick up signatures (in the higher price ranges it may be worth it), or Escrow companies can be hired. Another advantage when no money shows up on C.R. accounts, nobody knows the real sales price. Transfer taxes can be kept low, like in the old days.
Dangerous or not, people have the right to chose if they want to eat manipulated food or not. Producers should be Forced to indicate on cans and packages where the ingredients come from and how they were produced. I am not buying any corn, much less in cans, any more. I found that the cheapest corn in cans comes from the U.S. and some others come from other latin countries. None of them said it was organic or GMO. I am not going to eat it if I don´t know what´s in it.
Scott is right, this also applies for vacations, social security and workers insurance.
Make sure the Nicaraguan workers have work permit.When I moved to Costa Rica, in 1992, for buildings below 70 square meters, architects plans were not necessary but they (municipality) did want to see a detailed drawing, done by an official drafts person or by the builder if he was able to do it (it had to show details like foundations etc). I did the drawings for cabinas, pools, farm buildings etc. Now the rule says the maximum size for home-made plans is 30 square meters, a small cabina or dog house still fits in there.
If the road is a “Calle Publica” and it gives access to several homes, then the local municipality is responsible for the road maintenance. However, often they play stupid and say there is no money for materials, or the truck is broken. In any case, all the neighbors should go to the municipality and file a complaint (in Tilaran it is the secretary of the Alcalde who has the forms). Complain every 3 months until they start doing something about it. They will not build a paved highway but at least something to be used by car and to walk on without breaking your ankles.
I have had problems too with the programm at the first try. I deinstalled and installed again, and then it worked.
Scott, the tax is not for San Jose only. It applies to all properties where the value of the buildings is above a certain amount. The mentioned program not only calculates the value of the property but also how much tax you have to pay.
In real live, construction and land value did not increase during the last 2 years, many property owners/sellers dropped their prices (which reflects the market), but the government has its own rules when it is to their benefit.
[quote=”costaricafinca”]We had a living scorpion in our printer…and once the female has a family in your home, they get Permanent Residency :lol:[/quote]
Baygon takes care of this (scorpions are spider-related insects), or a fumigator in case of major infestation. Or, as someone said before, flip flops are pretty effective too.
[quote=”costaricabill”]I hate to bring up this ugly subject once again, but has anyone attempted (or succeeded) in calculating their luxury tax under the new guidelines and formulas?
I have paid it each year since its inception and intend to do so again this year, but I can’t find any information on the required re-calculation(s).[/quote]
I just checked the tax departments webpage and found a lot of information about that tax. They offer a program to calculate the value of the buildings that anyone can download and it is easy to use. It is called SOLIDARIO.
On this page:
http://dgt.hacienda.go.cr/tiposdeimpuestos/Paginas/Impuestosolidario2013.aspx , this page gives a lot of information about the tax and how to declare and pay it. To download the programm, click on:
c. Descargue el programa de ayuda ISOFOPROVI para el período 2013Download and install the program on your computer.
If the value of the buildings comes out to be over 117 million Colones, you have to pay the “luxury tax”.
For land value you can use this page :
For not-spanish speakers, better hire an accountant or attorney who is familiar with tax issues.
