Costa Rica News – Alert! Cost of living increase in Costa Rica……Again! If the goal of the Costa Rican government is to mimic the USA and increase taxes to a point where people are going to start leaving, they are heading in the right direction. 
“My car is a Honda Civic, 2007, and last year had a tax value of $14,200 and paid $328 for marchamo, this year the car has a tax value of $16,000 to $18,000 and has increased to a $448 payment” For all of you who do not have a calculator on had that is a 36% increase.
The 2013 collection of marchamo left this person alerted of an increase in the value ofhis your vehicle which also resulted in an increase in the amount tax paid this year on the vehicle. According Marieta Montero, an official of the Directorate General of Taxation (DGT), this situation applies to about 70% of vehicles in the country-nearly 1.2 million, including motorcycles, cars, trucks, boats and aircraft.
The latter two types do not have to pay marchamo but will see an increase in the value of their property. Increased tax value of the vehicles is the result of an update of the reference amounts used to calculate the property tax of vehicles.
“The Department of Taxation has been doing market research, because the law requires that the tax must be collected on the value in the domestic market,” said Montero. So this would be pretty much the blue book value plus about 30%. Nice way for the government to rob some more cash.
According to the official, they have been using the same depreciation formula for over 20 years. “Most (of vehicles) had very low values. For example, a Rav4, model 99, was valued at $1,200 “said Montero.
The correction to the formula was applied “massively” for the current fiscal period.
They want to increase the taxes on vehicles that is not a problem, as long as they open up their books and show where this money is actually going.
