If you’re behind on your marchamo and hoping lawmakers would wipe the debt this year, don’t wait. The amnesty proposed for 2027 failed, and a new version wouldn’t help anyone until 2028. Your 2027 marchamo is due by Dec. 31. Any older years you haven’t paid still carry their interest and fines.
The original plan was simple. Bill 25.630, filed on June 22 by Liberación Nacional deputy Mangell McLean, would have forgiven every unpaid marchamo from 2026 and earlier, including interest, fines and penalties. All you had to do was pay the 2027 marchamo before Jan. 1, 2027.
To take effect in time for this year’s payments, the bill needed a fast track. On Sept. 8, lawmakers voted 29 to 20 against that, with the ruling Pueblo Soberano caucus opposed. Without the fast track, the bill went into the regular queue and can’t move quickly enough to cover your 2027 payment.
McLean has now filed a new bill, number 25.886. It moves everything forward a year. You would have to pay the 2028 marchamo before Jan. 1, 2028, and anything unpaid from 2027 and earlier would be forgiven. The new version is narrower. It covers only cars and motorcycles with a fiscal value of 13,020,000 colones (about $28,700) or less, so newer and higher-value vehicles would not qualify.
It is a proposal, not a law. It still has to clear committee and two floor votes, and it would need support from a ruling party that has so far opposed it. The debt behind the push is large. According to Finance Ministry data cited by McLean, 10.6 million unpaid marchamos piled up between 2015 and 2026. That figure counts unpaid years, not vehicles, because a single car can owe several.
McLean argues that an amnesty would turn debt the state can’t collect into immediate revenue and help families get their vehicles back on the road legally. Opponents in the ruling party argue that forgiving the debt would reward people who didn’t pay. Costa Rica has done this before. In January 2022, lawmakers forgave old marchamos for nearly a million vehicles, but only 108,785 of the 992,598 eligible vehicles took advantage. A second amnesty passed in September 2023.
Here is what to do now. Look up your total by license plate on the INS marchamo website or by calling 800-MARCHAMO (800-6272-4266). The breakdown shows each item, including any older years you still owe. Expect the mandatory SOA insurance in your marchamo to cost a little more. For a private car, it rises 5.4% to 31,881 colones (about $70). The SOA covers medical care for people injured in a crash, up to 6 million colones per person.
This is also the first year of the new digital sticker, which is meant to last up to 10 years. It carries a separate charge of about 1,200 colones. Motorcycles keep the traditional sticker for now. Before you pay, check your total for an optional add-on insurance policy. If you don’t want it, you can uncheck it and the amount will adjust.
Regular collection of the 2027 marchamo runs through Dec. 31. More than 2 million marchamos were issued for collection this cycle.
