Costa Rica News – Three of the biggest money makers in Costa Rica are online gaming (sportbooks), casinos, and prostitution. Each of these businesses can be basically tax free.
Electronic betting, gaming tables and slot machines are not always taxed by the Directorate General of Taxation in Costa Rica, according to a report titled DGAI-INF-001-2015 by the Audit of the Ministry of Finance.
In fact, the Treasury has a very outdated list of taxpayers liable to pay taxes related to casinos and gambling. The list of casinos registered to pay taxes is different than the list the Ministry of Security, which gives the operating permissions, has.
There are only 32 casinos that have both their operating permissions and tax paying credentials in order, and dozens more that are on one list or the other. Taxation and Security ministries are working intensely to establish a more appropriate census.
It won’t be until 2016, four years after the tax was put in place, that the tax will be controlled and supervised. The law requires casinos to pay 10% of their net monthly income as tax.
