Corporations in Costa Rica Fail to Pay Taxes

According to the National Registry, approximately 80 percent of corporations in Costa Rica failed to pay their corporations tax. This resulted in a deficit of 14.9 billion colones. Currently, there are 542,000 registered corporations in Costa Rica; however, less than 117,000 of those corporations paid taxes by the due date of February 2.

The decline in payments can likely be attributed to a recent decision by the Constitutional Court that declared the tax law to be unconstitutional. While this could contribute to the large number of corporations failing to pay the tax, the National Registry also indicates that over the past year, only 50,000 fewer corporations failed to pay their taxes.
Continued Problems with Corporations Not Paying Taxes
Only about 40 percent of corporations have paid the taxes since it was created in 2011, according to the Banco de Costa Rica. The Deputy Minister of Finance has gone on record as state that despite the recent court ruling, corporations are not exonerated from paying the 2015 tax and that a daily fine of ¢94 will apply.

Tax experts content that the tax is no longer applicable that that the Ministry of Finance may not demand corporations pay the tax or apply penalties for arrears or late payments.