www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Two bad things one new one old.

1. Cuzcatlan, Banex, and Bank Uno ( perhaps others ) now require both long time and new USA citizen clients to fill out IRS W-9 forms. Clearly it would not be fun to explain to the IRS why you have not declared interest on an overseas account over the past few years. If anybody has any real knowledge and intelligent advice on this, please chime in.

2. Costa Rican debit cards when used outside of Costa Rica, do not automatically get refunds and temporary holds ( hotels, car rentals) returned to the card. I had noticed a car rental hold was never returned, went over the account going back 2 years, I had over $5,000 in hotel and car rental holds that were never returned and over $1,000 in actual refunds such as Amazon. In order to get temporary holds returned you must be proactive and look and go to the bank to actually ask for it.

Elusive1,
Where did you read this? I have accounts at Banco Cuscatlan & B.C.R. and I wasn't aware of this? Why would a CR bank (with no reciprocity with the U.S.) require this? And what are they (CR banks) getting from it? And furthermore, how can they (CR banks) get you fill out these forms if you do not reside in CR? And will they (CR banks) penalize you for NOT filling out the W-9 form?

If your information is accurate, this is NOT good news! Phucking IRS!

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You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!!

What are the interest rates that these banks are giving you guys?

I got an email with the W-9 attached from one and a call from another. I believe it is because of the recent acquisitions by USA banks ( Citibank for one). I have the W-9 in hand. Actually one asked for my SS number and the other emailed me the W-9. I have not heard anything from Banco Nacional at this point.

I have been advising people in CR and here in Panama for a couple years now NOT to open accounts in multinationals that have USA branches or reciprocity, if you value your personal and corporate privacy. They will and do report your activity just like a USA bank will do in this age of "anti terrorism" and "know your customer" rules. Foreign corporate accounts should not have this issue. Personal accounts will.

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All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts...

Yes, that is what I have learned. Do you think its better to close the personal accounts officially or just zero balance and ignore all contact? It's not Phishing, as the guy at the branch told me that he has had a rash of upset Gringos at Banco Uno who are closing accounts.

More BS from the most arrogant country on the planet...

Winston Smith's nightmare

I purchased an existing LTDA in CR last summer and went to several banks in an attempt to open a business account. They all wanted to see six months worth of financial records before they would open an account. I guess they are getting super paranoid about gringos trying to hide money and income??? I explained to each of them that I just started the business and I can't do any business until I have a bank account.....but they won't give me a bank account until the business has operated for six months....? This sux.

It's not just "terrorism" they are looking out for but also drug money laundering. Here is a story about a local jewelry store that got popped last month for that.

Metro jeweler gets jail time, fine for money laundering
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Atlanta Business Chronicle

An owner of jewelry stores at Atlantic Station and Merchandise Mart/America's Mart will spend six years in jail, must pay $1.6 million and will forfeit his condominium for his scheme to launder drug money.

Toros Seher, 39, of Atlanta was convicted in February by a federal jury of concealing illegal drug proceeds among legitimate sales made, among other places, at Chaplin's and Chaplin's Midtown. On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy C. Batten sentenced Seher to six years in jail.

Trades and businesses must report cash transactions in amounts of more than $10,000 to the IRS using specific forms. An indictment handed down by a federal grand jury on July 26, 2006, charged Seher, Chaplin's, and Chaplin's Midtown with failing to file these forms and money laundering.

On the same day, the IRS executed search and seizure warrants at those two stores owned and/or operated by Seher, his partner's Alpharetta, Ga., residence, and his Atlantic Station condominium. The IRS seized about $6 million in jewelry from the two retail locations.

Undercover IRS agents pretended to launder drug proceeds with Seher's guidance at Chaplin's in the Merchandise Mart/America's Mart in downtown Atlanta and Chaplin's Midtown in Atlantic Station. Cooperating defendants and witnesses provided other historical information regarding Seher's money laundering.

According to witnesses, from 1997 to as late as 2002, Seher assisted drug dealers in laundering their dirty money by concealing that money among funds generated by a business' legitimate sales. In many cases, Seher accepted cash from drug dealers at an unnamed location in amounts that exceeded $10,000 and were as much as $200,000 for a single transaction.

Seher continued these practices at Chaplin's and Chaplin's Midtown. Starting in April 2005, IRS undercover agents made three purchases in cash exceeding $10,000 from Seher, for a wedding set, a Rolex watch and two diamond bracelets. Audio and video tapes show Seher advising the undercover agent to "use any name and address" when filling out the forms and making "choking gestures" to suggest the agents were saying too much regarding the source of the money, which was illegal narcotics trafficking.

Seher also told the undercover agents to make payments of less than $10,000 to disguise cash transactions and avoid filling out required IRS forms. Evidence at trial showed that Seher did not report these cash transactions and knew that the jewelry sales were being used to launder money from drugs.

"Businesses cannot turn a blind eye when drug dealers try to use them to launder their dirty money," said U.S. Attorney David Nahmias. "Businesses who try to conceal drug money within their legitimate revenues are gambling with the law and risk losing everything. Here, the defendant lost two stores, a home, more than six million dollars -- and his freedom. In the end, money laundering does not pay."

THis should be added on to the "MUY TICO" thread, no??

Cygnus

Yeah.....even worse, when I was at BAC, I was told that I needed a reference from a stateside bank. I had brought two reference letters - one from Chase Bank and one from my local credit union. The manager at BAC told me I needed a letter from one of the banks on his list. I pointed out Bank One on the list and explained that Chase bought out Bank One. He said he would need a letter from Chase stating that they were Bank One. I told him "just go to the internet and type in www.bankone.com and the website for Chase will come up." Somehow he needed more than that. Luckily I was only about 2-3 blocks from ZB so I said "phuck the banks" and got myself some latina pu*sy instead.

I'm afraid the days of North Americans opening their own accounts in these countries are about over thanks to our countries zealous new banking laws. In Panama, it is much easier and recommended that your attorney and local officer for your business entity open the account(s) for you. You still have to provide lots of paperwork and documentation for your business affairs, and you pay for these introductions...but it gives the banks a "one off" local source to blame if something bad happens with the gringo business. Sucks...but realities of the day.

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All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts...

Glad I got an acount with BCR years ago. Phuck Uncle Sam!!

With all the recent reports of expat customers loosing thousands of dollars because of fraudulent activity in their BCR account and BCR doing nothing to resolve the situation I would be very careful.

Personally I keep small amounts in my Scotia account and BAC account and the bulk in my U.S. credit union. I feel much safer that way. Off course I am not trying to evade any U.S. scrutiny

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine