Monday deadline approaches for luxury home tax

Monday’s deadline for homeowners to pay Costa Rica’s luxury home tax, or impuesto solidario, is quickly approaching. Homeowners who fail to pay the tax by Jan. 16 will be assessed a fine and could have their names published in a government list of debtors.

Created in 2008, the luxury home tax helps fund low-income housing projects carried out by the National Housing Mortgage Bank. The tax is separate from property taxes that all Costa Rican residents pay, and is assessed on homes valued at $218,000 and higher (see chart below).

“Those who fail to pay (the luxury home tax) in time will have to pay interest calculated from the due date to the day of the payment at a rate of 13.3 percent,” tax official Jenny Delgado said. “Taxpayers who failed to pay in previous years now will have to declare those unpaid years, and pay a fine of ₡180,300 [$357] plus interest. However, [taxpayers] who can prove they have difficulty paying can negotiate a [payment] agreement.”

The Tax Administration provides information about the tax in Spanish at their website (www.dgt.hacienda.go.cr), including how to calculate the value of a home (under the “Valoraciones” tab) and how to pay the tax at a bank or online.

Every year, the Finance Ministry publishes a list of luxury-home tax delinquents on its website. According to the weekly El Financiero, last November the ministry published a list of 106 taxpayers who were delinquent in 2011.

The tax office has a list of 5,000 names and ID numbers of homeowners who are required to pay the tax this year.

Value of home                                                 Tax (percent of property value)

₡111-277 million ($219,900-548,840)                    0.25

₡277-555 million ($548,840-1.1 million)                 0.30

₡555-832 million ($1.1-1.65 million)                      0.35

₡832 million-1.1 billion ($1.65-2.2 million)             0.40

₡1.1-1.38 billion ($2.2-2.8 million)                        0.45

₡1.38-1.66 billion  ($2.8-3.3 million)                     0.50

More than ₡1.66 billion ($ 3.3 million)                  0.55

To see the list of delinquent taxpayers: http://dgt.hacienda.go.cr/contribuyentes/Documents/Lista%20de%20contribuyentes%20morosos%20del%20impuesto%20solidario%20periodos%202009%20y%202010%20al%2001%20de%20nov%202011.pdf

To see list of homeowners who must pay tax this year: http://dgt.hacienda.go.cr/Impuestosolidario/Documents/Consulta%20del%20impuesto%20solidario%20a%20pagar%20para%20periodo%202012.pdf