Officials from Costa Rica’s Social Security System on Tuesday reported the agency will allocate just over ₡3 trillion ($5.5 billion) of its budget for covering public health care expenses and pension payments in 2016.
Vehicle owners in Costa Rica can find out exactly how much they owe for the yearly circulation permit, "marchamo," starting Monday on the INS website, by text or by calling a toll free number.
Lawmakers of the Legislative Commission on Childhood, Adolescence and Youth in a unanimous vote on Tuesday approved the drafting of a bill to increase from $29 to $33 the country's exit tax in order to provide funds for the National Olympic Committee.
The Solís administration has declared Uber’s service illegal and threatened to fine chauffeurs caught driving passengers, but it has so far ignored Airbnb, a service that allows private citizens to rent out their homes to guests.
Currently some 952,000 workers in Costa Rica are exempt from the income tax but that figure likely would decrease if the Finance Ministry approves lower income brackets used to calculate taxes.
The new online platform, called Virtual Tax Administration (ATV), will be available at the ministry’s website and will replace current software taxpayers are required to install on their computers.
Costa Rica will reach a population of 5 million by 2018, according to estimates from the National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC). INEC and Casa Presidencial warned that there are some growing pains ahead for the country as it approaches.
The 1,335 expatriations in the first quarter of 2015 topped the previous record by 18 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Those Americans are driven to turn in their passports in part because of laws that have expanded bank reporting and tax compliance requirements for expatriates.
