Costa Rica information, activities and news
Here are my top ten rules and travel tips for anyone planning a trip to Costa Rica. I have listed them in order of importance. The tips are invaluable to you having a safe and fun time in this wonderful country. Please don’t let this scare or dissuade you from traveling to Costa Rica. If you follow these simple rules; I am sure you will have the time of your life and a safe trip. (more…)
Remember to fill the gas tank before midnight tonight as the latest round of gasoline price hikes takes effect at 12:01am.
The price of a liter of super gasoline will ¢732 colones; regular will cost ¢721; and diesel ¢726.
The price increase was approved last month by the Autoridad Reguladora de Servicios Publicos (Aresep), however, it takes effect tomorrow, one day after it is published in the official government publication, La Gaceta.
What seems to be more of a joke, the Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo (RECOPE) on Friday made a request for a decrease in the price of gasoline by ¢1 colon for a litre of super, ¢5 for regular and ¢3 for diesel.
The request is due to the drop of the price of crude oil on international markets. Recope said that the decrease woudl have been greater, blaming the small increase on the increase in the dollar exchange rate.
However, don’t hold your breath for too long, as the Aresp still has to deal with two price increase requests before dealing the the decrease.
Every day it seems like Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast attracts more visitors—not just tourists from other countries, but also Costa Ricans themselves. Restaurants, hotels, nightclubs, and beaches are all surprisingly busy at a time of year when the pace usually slows down. Other parts of Costa Rica are certainly getting their fair share of visitors, but the Caribbean coast—especially the southern part of it—is more popular than ever.
Real estate prices already reflect that optimism. The property market on the Pacific has taken a slight hit from the downturn in the U.S. economy. Prices on the Caribbean coast, however, are rising at around 5% a year.
For the time being, bargains are easy to find around the Caribbean. In an upscale neighborhood of Cahuita, just north of Puerto Viejo, a two-bedroom house was recently for sale for $125,000. The residence is a five-minute walk from the beach. Closer to Puerto Viejo, a larger two-bedroom house on property with a tropical garden was listed at $168,000. Not far away, in the beachfront town of Cocles, a new one-bedroom house had a list price of $142,000. The house is a 10-minute walk to the beach and close to restaurants and grocery stores. (more…)
The haul was made public by police today, and it involves 15 million pills which were found in tomato cans. There have been 15 arrests so far during raids across the nation. Supposedly, the 4.4 ton shipment of ecstasy was imported into Melbourne from Italy in June last year.
The report adds that buildings linked to the Calabrian mafia, which is known in Italy as “‘Ndrangheta” and in Australia as the “honored society” or “the family” were raided by the AFP this morning. Nine Victorians, two South Australians, a Tasmanian and three people from New South Wales Territory, or NSW, were arrested. (more…)
Costa Rica, the land of the rain forest, volcanoes and “Pura Vida” is a hot spot for affordable cosmetic surgery. Hundreds and hundreds of foreigners visit the country to transform their bodies in paradise.
Approximately 15% of all visitors travel to this beautiful country to get medical procedures done, mostly cosmetic. Why? You may ask. There are two very good reasons: money and quality. Most operations and procedures cost less than half the price. For example, while in the United States of America an eye surgery costs about US$5,000; it only costs US $1,800 in Costa Rica. Also, the quality of the doctors, in general, is amongst the best in the world as many have studied and practice in Europe and the U.S. (more…)
Stewart Title Costa Rica (STCR) opened the doors to its new office in Tamarindo, Guanacaste. The opening was celebrated June 20, 2008 at an event organized for clients and business partners.
Stewart Title Costa Rica is a wholly owned subsidiary of Stewart Title Latin America (STLA) and an agent of Stewart Title Guaranty Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stewart Information Services Corp
The area has experienced amazing growth and the large number of requests from the region prompted Stewart Title Costa Rica to open this new office. Tamarindo, the newest Stewart Title Costa Rica operation, joins a growing network of Latin American and Caribbean operations providing both international and local purchasers and lenders with cutting-edge title and real estate information services.
“Our region has historically been a cash-driven market,” said Christopher Hill, CEO of Stewart Title Latin America. “That is changing, and our mortgage services division is a key component to facilitating the needs of both the borrower and lender in the transaction process.” (more…)
HOMOSEXUAL inmates in Costa Rica do not have the right to conjugal visits, the nation’s highest court has ruled in a case that could be revisited if Congress passes a bill legalising gay marriage, newspapers reported.
The Constitutional Tribunal rejected a former inmate’s appeal in a lawsuit against prison authorities who suddenly stopped his weekly conjugal visits to his partner, a current inmate he met when both served time in the same jail.
The high court’s brief ruling said the prison authorities’ decision “falls within the scope of their rights, duties and powers”.
The court, however, is still debating another appeal in a similar case that challenges prison rules restricting conjugal visits to heterosexual couples as violating the basic right to sexual freedom of all inmates, including homosexuals.
The high court’s ruling could also be affected if Congress votes and passes a bill currently under debate that would legalise gay marriage.
Meanwhile, the country’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal is considering a request to hold a referendum on gay marriage so the Costa Rican people can decide on the matter.
Same-sex marriage is legal in six countries – Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Norway, South Africa and Spain – and is a top issue in the United States, where Massachusetts in 2004 became the first US state to allow it, followed by California this year.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he has removed some of the legal discriminations against same-sex couples, but is not in favour of allowing them to marry.
The Government announced a plan to contain spending in 2009, given the fact that the country is going through a crisis resulting mainly from the increase in the prices of food and oil. At different instances, the message was transmitted by acting President Laura Chinchilla and by Finance Minister Guillermo Zuniga. “In the coming months, Costa Rica will have to engage in something similar to pilgrimage. We will be facing a very steep trail”, Ms. Chinchilla warned. “When resources are few and many the needs, we must” share in all senses, she added.
The arrival of tourists in the last 12 months has kept on increasing, even though at a slower rate than in the preceding year. In June, on a year to year basis, the number of tourists increased by 7 percent, while in February it had done so by 21 percent.The overall number of people holidaying in Costa Rica during the last year was 2.1 million.
Minister of Tourism Carlos Benavides said that, in spite of the slowing down in the increase rate, the country enjoys an arrival of visitors that surpasses the world’s average.
“By the end of the year, we will close with an increase that will be, at the least, double what the other countries around the world will grow,” he commented.
The increase in the prices of oil affected the costs of operation of airlines in the United States (the source of a majority of the tourists who come to Costa Rica), and that has resulted in fewer flights and more expensive tickets, minister Benavides further explained.
For close to twelve and a half years, Costa Ricans had not experienced as high a hike in the cost of living as the one recorded in the last three months. From May through July, the cost of the basic basket went 5.5 percent up, the highest quarterly increase since December 1995, according to the variation in the Consumer Price Index. In July, alone, the indicator went 2.14 percent up.
Jaco Beach, home to many residing in Costa Rica – not to mention one of that nation’s favorite getaways – has now been deemed a “health risk”.
Fecal residues of between 1100 and 2400 have been recorded over the past week. Anything over 500 is considered to be a health hazard.
This level of contamination can have severe consequences, with diarrhea, vomiting, infections accompanied by high fever and various allergies.
Anyone who has swam in Jaco Beach over the past week and is experiencing any of the above symptoms should seek medical attention.
Jaco Beach is very popular among surfers but it also has a reputation for being among the least cleanest of beaches in Costa Rica.
Jaco is utilized by sports book and online casino employees – most of whom reside in and around San Jose, the nation’s capital. It is approximately a two hour drive.
The United States has to leave Guantanamo Base, said President Oscar Arias. He thus supported Cuba in the historical complaint for the occupation of Guantanamo Island, located off the southeastern tip of the island nation, by the U.S. armed forces. Dr. Arias said Washington has to return the enclave to Havana, in a goodwill sign towards the normalization of the relations between the two nations. The 1986 Nobel Peace Award added that he had said to Bill Clinton during his first term that the U.S. cannot ask Cuba anything without offering something in exchange. He added that after the events in Guantanamo and the violation of basic human rights at the prison there, it is high time for the enclave to be returned to Cuba.
The ministra de Seguridad Pública, Jannina Del Vecchio, blames the problems of insecurity in the country on drugs and declares red alert for consumption of crack.
Del Vecchio is responding to results of a poll by Demoscopía for the Spanish daily, Al Día, which indicated there is an increase in the feeling that the government is doing a “bad” job at solving the security problem. The poll shows that 42.1% polled in July say the government is not handling the security problem well, compared to 31.5% in April, the time when Del Vecchio took over the post from Fernando Berrocal, who was fired. (more…)
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) – the country’s sole provider of telecommunications – has promised 1.5 million cellular lines next year, as it gears up for the coming of cellular services competition and to meet the growing demands for cellular service. However, there is one problem.
ICE began the tendering process for bidders for the new cellular system called 3G. However, so far only one bidder has shown interest, a Chinese consortium Huadwei Techonologies and at more than double the price estimated by ICE for the system. (more…)
The bottom line is you should always conduct business in CR via a corporation. There are definite tax and liability implications. Canadian residents are lucky…any income earned outside of Canada is not taxed by Canada. The US is different, all income, regardless of where it is earned, is taxed. CR and the US do not have a tax treaty, so you will pay the CR government 30% and the US government 35% if the shares are in your name.
If they are in a corporation, not only do you have anonymity from the IRS perspective, but there are some tax strategies that can be implemented through countries that do have tax treaties with the US. And by that I mean if it is taxed in these countries at, say 15%, the US will not tax the income when you bring it home. It’s all very complicated, which is why the world needs tax attorneys. Also, there are some strategies the attorneys can use by treating some of the income as capital gains, etc. to reduce the CR tax to 15 or 20%. We could potentially see a reduction in our tax bill from 65% to 30% by listening to the guys that know how to do this. It’s all legal, but we need the experts to tell us how to do it. This is what rich people do…I’d like to be rich, wouldn’t you?
This is why it is prudent to wait for the tax attorney’s recommendation.
Also, if you buy personal property in CR like a car, you should buy it under a separate corporation. If you get in an accident and you are sued, they sue the corporation. If the corporation has no assets, you lose nothing personally.
