Resolution Number MH-DGT-RES-0007-2023 of the General Tax Directorate establishes the obligation of dormant legal persons, legally constituted, and registered in the Single Tax Registry (“RUT” by its initials in Spanish) of submitting the Informative Income Tax Return no later than April 30^th of each calendar year.

In this regard, taxpayers should use the form "Informative Tax Return of Inactive Legal Entities D-195" that will be enabled for such purposes on the digital platform Virtual Tax Administration ("ATV" by its initials in Spanish). Through the informative tax return, dormant legal persons should report to the Tax Administration a summary information of the increases in their assets, liabilities, and capital.

For this year, the period of the submission of the Form D-195 for the fiscal periods 2020, 2021 and 2022 is extended to May 31^st. Those dormant legal entities that have complied with the formal duty of submitting the informative tax returns of the mentioned fiscal periods through the Simplified Form D-101, should not have the obligation to submit the Form D-195.

Finally, it is determined that the lack of compliance with the submission of the Informative Tax Return D-195, triggers the infraction for non-compliance in the provision of information established in article 83 of the Code of Norms and Tax Procedures.

Source: Portal Imprenta Nacional

Through Executive Decree Number 43953-COMEX-TUR, mandatory compliance provisions are defined for parties interested in requesting the Free Zone Regime under the category of sustainable adventure park that requires to demonstrate the viability of the proposed activities before the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (“ICT” by its initials in Spanish).

 

In accordance with the Law Number 10.234 "Law to strengthen territorial competitiveness to promote the attraction of investments outside the Greater Metropolitan Area", it is defined that PROCOMER (by its initials in Spanish) must request this criterion for those recreational or adventure activities carried out mostly outdoors; whose goal is to generate fun, entertainment or well-being for the people who use their services.

In this regard, the ICT is determined as the entity in charge of analyzing the information sent by the interested parties and within a period of one month it will make a reasoned decision on whether the activities proposed by the company would obtain the viability criterion for the Free Trade Zone Regime application.

Finally, it is defined that the favorable criterion issued by the ICT is permanent, however, this entity is entitled to exercise the control mechanisms established in the national regulations with the objective of verifying compliance by the beneficiary in relation to the commitment agreed for receiving the Certification of Sustainable Tourism by the ICT.

Source: Portal Imprenta Nacional

By means of Executive Decree Number 43966-H-COMEX-GOB, the regulatory provisions of mandatory compliance are established for those natural or legal persons interested in requesting and obtaining the benefits established in Law Number 10.071 called "Law of Attraction of Film Investments".

Therefore, the Regulation establishes the requirements and procedure for the application of benefits for film investment projects, which must be submitted to PROCOMER (by its initials in Spanish). Among the benefits and incentives, the following may be mentioned:

• Exemption from income tax on dependent or independent personal work, and withholdings for remittances abroad of foreign personnel for payments to actors, actresses, directors, producers, technical personnel and all personnel necessary for the development of the project, provided that such payments are not made with Costa Rican source funds.
• Suspension of taxes on the temporary importation of equipment and spare parts for film and audiovisual production, exemption from the payment of taxes in application of article 113 of Law 7485 and article 578 of Executive Decree Number 42876, or
• The importation of tools, costumes, makeup, scenery, and other technical materials required for the realization of the PIA, shall be exempt from all import taxes.

These provisions came into effect on April 14^th of the current year.

Source: Portal Imprenta Nacional

 

Resolution Number MH-DGT-RES-0003-2023 of the General Directorate of Taxation, establishes changes regarding the determination of tax residency and the issuance of tax residency certificates regulated in resolution DGT-R-065-2018.

The resolution indicates the permanence requirements of the applicants for the tax residence certificate and the requirements and information that must be provided to obtain such certificate. Within the changes, the following aspects can be mentioned:

Permanence of individuals: when the certificate is related to taxes covered by a type of Income Tax that has a monthly fiscal period, the verification of the permanence in the country corresponds to the following:

o   Applications from previous years: the verification will be made within the 12 months of the year requested (i..e, from January to December) of the period to be certified.

o   Applications for the current year: the verification will be made in the months passed (i.e., from January of the current year to the date of filing the application) if this period exceeds 183 days.

Application requirements in case of individuals subject to withholding tax: individuals subject to withholding tax for salaries or capital income, who request the certificate for the application of double taxation agreements for the current period, must provide evidence of the withholding taxes applied by a document issued from the withholding tax agent responsible for withholding such taxes, and also indicate the forms through which the amounts withheld for salary tax were reported, when applicable.

These provisions came into effect on April 21^st of the current year.

Source: Portal Imprenta Nacional