Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Corporate Tax Email - NCC Law

**please see FAQ Corp Tax page for add'l information**

Dear Clients

Starting April 1st, 2012, a new annual tax for Costa Rican corporations will apply. The tax rate varies depending on whether taxpayers are active entities or not. Most of the corporations which are incorporated by our Firm as legal mechanism to hold the assets of our foreign clients, are registered before the Tax Authority as inactive companies.  However, every corporation should be individually reviewed.

For the 2012 fiscal period, the tax will be prorated for a nine month period; therefore, the amounts payable will be 135,225 ($264) for active corporations and 67,613 ($132) for inactive corporations.

The 2013 fiscal period requires corporation to pay the full year,  that is $300 for active corporations and $150 for non active corporations. This US Dollar amount may have a slight change next year since this tax is legally defined as “a percent of a monthly base salary” and it is paid in local currency.  This amount will fluctuate modestly each year depending upon the exchange rate between the US Dollar and the CR Colones as well as the defined minimum wage as measured in Colones.

This law authorizes company´s officers to resign their current positions in Costa Rican companies and also entitles company owners (shareholders) to dissolve these companies before July 2012 to avoid the taxes. This may be the suggested option for companies with no commercial activities and no assets.

The law also authorizes the company owners to transfer assets to themselves individually before the company is dissolved.   This transfer can be effected without taxes or other governmental fees normally required as part of assets transferring transactions. This option does save the taxes incurred by the corporation.  However, this option subjects the assets previously held by the corporation to estate planning issues.  Further, this option exposes those assets to personal liability claims. In case of corporations that hold assets, especially those owned by foreign nation, the safest course of action would be to retain the corporation and pay the taxes. 

The document enclosed explains the proposed tax and the penalty for failure to pay as required by law.

If you want my office to process this 2012 tax payment, please let me know. In addition to the amount to be paid to the Tax Authority, we charge $65 to cover wire transfer fee, exchange rate variations and processing fee.  If you are transferring funds from a local account, the corresponding fee will be $50.

Please feel free to contact me with your particular inquiries and upon your request, wire transfer information will be provided. 

Finally, please take note that this e mail has been addressed to you since your contact information appears in our client´s data base.  If you are not a client of our firm, this e mail was not intended to reach you.  In such case, please disregard this communication and receive my apologies for any inconvenience it may cause.

Best regards


Ricardo Cordero


Monday, March 5, 2012

Checking the Waves at the Inlet

There were waves this weekend.  Some of them were pretty fun.  The water is still cold but the air was warm and the surf was worth it.  Some sets were overhead. 

On Sunday afternoon I was standing on the beach just north of the Manasquan Inlet checking the waves at my home spot. A good friend of mine, who happens to be 55 years old and a phenominal surfer, started to tell me again about a Community he had bought into.  It was several years back, up by Playa Negra (about 1 hour 15 minutes +/- north of San Juanillo).....

No wells or Community water, thus No ASADA. 
No lot clearing - hasn't been up there in years to see what his lot even looks like. 
No care-taker to maintain the roads or ward off potential squaters or the like. 
No one has built a house. 
No taxes paid to date and he has owned it outright for over 7 years. 
No communication with the original Developers and there are still more lots to sell.

He told me that they are just now in the process of joining together (22 or 26 lots, I forget) to create an HOA and have each individual lot owner put money into a fund to pay for common costs.  He said it was tough cause they haven't yet accumulated everyones complete contact information and there is not yet a central control to get things moving.  "There are owners from all over".  He had wished that they had started this years ago but that most of the lot owners that have been contacted are buying into an "HOA" becuase they see the value of the "Community" in their Development.

My brother, who also owns a lot in SJE and was there at the time, smiled and asked me if any of it sounded familiar.  I answered by saying that it was somewhat familiar but that SJE has everything our friend is looking to establish.  Our buddy looked at us and said two simple phrases, "You are lucky.  You have peace of mind". 

This is the second time someone who owns property in Costa Rica has told me that I am lucky to have what is in place at SJE.
__________________________________
If you haven't already, pay your dues for 2012. 

$755.00 per lot.  Make your payment out to San Juanillo Estates Home Owners Association.  Mail it to my attention at:

1500 Melrose Highway
Pennsauken, NJ 08110-1410. 

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.  Hope everyone is well. 

Thanks,
Kurt

Manasquan Inlet - Photo Bruce Chrisner


Steve Stillman - Phenominal Surfer