Costa Rica remains on the European Union’s (EU) gray list. Despite approved tax reforms and improved fiscal figures, they were insufficient for the country to be removed from the list. The Ministry of Finance confirmed this afternoon that Costa Rica is continuing its efforts to comply with the final requirement needed to exit the EU gray list.
Although Costa Rica has yet to be excluded, it is regarded as a “cooperating country” working toward meeting fiscal transparency standards. The country awaits a review by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Tax Information under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This review is a key step for the EU’s “Code of Conduct” evaluators to reassess Costa Rica’s status.
The review is scheduled for the first quarter of 2025, but the results will not be analyzed until the second half of the year, according to the OECD agenda.
The European Union evaluates countries based on five criteria, four of which Costa Rica has already met, further reinforcing its status as a cooperating country. A major milestone was the approval of Law 10.488 in May 2024, introducing key reforms to the Tax Standards and Procedures Code, which improved the Automatic Information Exchange System.
This law has strengthened the Tax Administration’s ability to monitor financial institutions that fail to meet their information exchange obligations. Since the enactment of the law, Costa Rica’s Tax Administration has worked closely with OECD authorities, providing additional information through September of this year. The country is also focused on ongoing improvements to ensure these new regulatory powers are effectively enforced.
Until 2023, Costa Rica was on the EU’s blacklist, which includes non-cooperative countries in terms of tax information exchange. Currently, it is on the gray list, which includes nations working toward meeting the required standards. Once the final requirement is fulfilled, Costa Rica is expected to be removed from the list.
The country remains under EU scrutiny, along with Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Curaçao, Eswatini, Seychelles, Turkey, and Vietnam.
