Only 35 percent of Costa Rican corporations will pay taxes on time

Today (Jan. 31) is the deadline for 550,000 corporations to pay corporate taxes, and representatives of Banco de Costa Rica (BCR) estimate that some 400,000 will not do it on time.

Alexander Acón, manager of the commercial division of BCR, said some 20,000 corporations paid on Wednesday, and an expected 40,000-50,000 will pay on Thursday, totaling an estimated of 35 percent of the country’s corporations.

The tax imposes a yearly fee of ₡189,700 ($380) to active corporations and ₡94.850 ($190) to inactive ones. An inactive corporation is one that does not earn profit, commonly used in Costa Rica to hold assets, while an active corporation is registered with the Tax Administration and earns income.

The law states that corporations failing to pay the tax will be barred from doing business operations starting Feb 1. Those failing to pay for three consecutive years will be automatically dissolved.

The corporate tax can be paid in all BCR offices and at its website at: www.bancobcr.com.

To pay, people only need to provide a corporate identification number (cédula jurídica).