Costa Rica News – Well it seems that Costa Rica’s goal is to make sure that people think twice about buying a vacation rental home in Costa Rica. The executive branch of government is set on passing its proposal regarding placing a sales tax of 13% on rental houses in Costa Rica.
The bill is not new, but they have added the definition of the vague term “temporary houses” to mean those with leases of less than a month.
This applies to homes all over the country, whether in touristic areas or not, near beaches or in the mountains.
The initiative is an integral part of the Bill to Better the Fight Against Tax Fraud.
Adding the definition makes it more feasible to execute.
The idea behind this tax is to make money off this lucrative activity and to create a level of fairness between vacation rental homes and hotels, which are subject to tax.
13% is just the beginning, as the plan is to raise the rate gradually to 15%.
The executive branch is so set on this tax because, ideally, it would allow them to lower the primary deficit from 2.8 to .9% of the GDP.
It is not a matter of will this bill pass or not, it is just a question of when it will happen.