Costa Rica News – The Costa Rican Treasury has come to a better solution regarding the idea of charging VAT.
There will no longer by the anticipated problem of paying double taxes and then requesting refunds.
Netflix will be charged VAT but Amazon won’t. The reason is that when you pay Netflix you’re paying for a service but when you pay Amazon you are paying for goods. The goods will go through customs, where they will be charged tax.
The idea of adding a Value Added Tax applies to services consumed in Costa Rica. These include subscriptions to Spotify, HBO Go, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Airbnb, online storage services and mobile apps for things like express food and transportation.
At first it seemed the banking authorities were not able to distinguish whether a customer was paying a good or service but it has been determined that they can. This motion would allow the current system of collecting tax in customs to remain intact.
If one wants to purchase say a subscription for Netflix for a relative to use abroad, they can go to the tax administration offices to request a reimbursement of the taxes that were charged.
