www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Maybe Roberto is right about Colombia....

Peace

PIDD
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Tourist $15 head tax law nearly ready to be published
By José Pablo Ramírez Vindas
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff


The board of directors of the tourism institute has approved regulations that bring into force a $15 head tax on tourists, according to Carlos Ricardo Benavides, minister.

The tax is supposed to bring in about $25 million a year instead of the $10 million now collected via a 3 percent tax on tourism facilities.

Benavides said that tourism officials were waiting for the regulations to be approved before publishing the new law at the same time. Most laws are published first and the regulations bringing them into effect are published later. Publishing is obligatory to make a law official, and most laws require additional regulations to spell out the finer points.

The tourist tax won approval in the legislature Nov. 20, but dropped from sight afterwards. Usually President Óscar Arias Sánchez holds a press conference where he signs important new laws. That did not happen with the tax, although Benavides did say that Arias had signed the measure.
The board of directors of the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo Monday also approved ending the tax on hotels. A number of tourism providers have been uncertain if they should continue collecting the taxes.

Under the new tax, not just tourists will pay. The $15 will be levied on every air ticket that is not sold in Costa Rica regardless of the motive for travel. Costa Rica now has a 5 percent tax on air tickets sold domestically. Officials also complained that residents were buying tickets in other Central American countries to avoid the tax.

Benavides was quoted as saying when the law passed that the nation still will remain competitive because other Central American countries also levied taxes used for promotion. Tourists also pay a $26 exit tax.

Benavides said Tuesday that the new law and the regulations will be published in two or three weeks in the La Gaceta official newspaper and the collection of the new tourism head tax will begin shortly thereafter.

The proceeds of the tax are supposed to be used for promotion, marketing, planning and sustainable development, although such terms are not clearly defined.

I understand the reason that this tax is to take the place of the hotel tax is because so many tourists rent villas, condos and other lodging, and are thus dodging the hotel tax. On a 5-day visit at $100/night hotel bill, the tax paid remains the same--on longer visits you actually pay less this way. It does slap at the backpackers and to a lesser extent, us. Strictly anecdotal reasoning by me though.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Jazzbo correctly covered one of the reasons the Government decided to replace the 3% hotel tax with the $15.00 departure tax. One of the other reasons was that many hotels would not collect and remit the tax when a guest payed in cash.

As a resident I lose under this new program as I do not stay in a hotel and therefore was not paying the 3% tax but will have to pay the flat fee.

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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

News Flash - Costa Rica asking for another handout...(Bloomberg News)

Note: the USA largely funds the IMF...Costa Rica is asking for 750
million + 500 million directly from Congress.... that's over a BILLION
of mostly US tax money folks...(America pays and pays and pays...)


link to article - excerpts below:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/ news?pid= 20601086& sid=aAP3cZcIoNOc &refer=news

Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Costa Rica is seeking a credit line of as much
as $750 million from the International Monetary Fund to shore up
confidence in the country's economy, Francisco de Paula Gutierrez,
president of the central bank, said. ...........

As part of a recovery plan announced last month, Costa Rica is moving
to borrow more from multilateral lenders such as the Inter-American
Development Bank, while raising pensions 15 percent and building
schools and roads to create jobs. The government is negotiating with
the IMF for a stand-by credit of $500 million to $750 million, he
said. ............ .....

The country's international reserves stand at about $4 billion,
Gutierrez said. "We feel comfortable with this level, but we would
like to be prepared in case the economy turns more negative," he said.

The central bank's current forecast is for growth of 2.2 percent in
the $30 billion economy. Gutierrez said yesterday the bank will review
its projection because of deterioration in the global economy. He,
too, said growth may now be zero to 1 percent. ...........

Costa Rica's exports dropped 19 percent in January from the year-ago
month, according to the trade ministry. Exports to the U.S., Costa
Rica's largest trading partner, were down 17.6 percent during that
time, the ministry said.

Exports from Intel Corp.'s Costa Rican unit fell 32 percent to $485
million in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, company figures
show. Exports will likely drop through the first quarter of this year,
San Jose-based spokeswoman Karla Blanco said in a Feb. 23 interview.
The plant accounts for about a fifth of Costa Rica's exports.

I am certain that all of these problems could be solved if the top Del Rey hookers were willing to lower their prices, right boys?

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"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

If they are given that money, what are the chances of it being repaid? Close to zippo Is my guess.

Costa Rica sends RFM to US... and you think it will ever be paid back? The chance is about as good as a working girl paying the gringo back for an RFM.

Orange, when you think about it, the girls and their RFM are no worse than the govt. here. Actually, this starts at the top and works it way down. The girls work "extortion light". Have you seen the new police cars given by China. How about the new stadium? CR sells out to the Chinese. The gals sell their pu*sy. It's all the same, just a different scale.