www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Read the article about the Laura tax bill that looks like the gaming industry (both casinos and sportsbooks) will be www.amcostarica.com page one. A friend of mine had dinner with Shelby (owner of Colonial Casino) He said that one answer will be to shorten the hours of operation from a current 11am to 6am to 3pm to 6am. He said that this would take place in October. This response is from the most successful casino in CR. The article says that the more successful casinos would be taxed up to around $17,000 PLUS a 10% tax on top of the other taxes which aren't even deductable. Less hours of operation means LESS EMPLOYEES. Sportsbooks are alreaady in the planning stage of leaving Costa Rica.Some of these places employ over 100 people,many of whom are Tico.

the article also says that some restaurants downtown have raised prices 30%......how can taxes, fees and prices continue to rise without a loss of business?

_________________
The difference between a Sea Story and a Fairy Tale is that a Fairy Tale starts out 'Once Upon a Time..' and a Sea Story starts out 'This is no Shit...'

(export version only, some restrictions may apply, some assembly required, not valid where the sun don't shine...

if you live in the states of Poverty, Darkness or anywhere outside of The Blessings of Civilization Trust, Inc...other rules may apply)

Could it be that Laura Chinchiila is trying to get ride of all of us that come here and you guys that live there?

_________________
as my father says "better to be lucky than good"

Laura has been irrational about gambling since she thought the Russians were coming. CR really has nothing to lose though. They have phucked all the dollars they can out of foreigners. It's all money from China from here on out.

The gaming industry is heavily taxed and regulated almost anywhere they operate. CR is only taking a half bite of the apple by taxing them as there is still no real regulation.

For politicians "sin taxes". tobacco, alcohol, gaming are always an easy target.



It has been widely reported that the vast majority of casino patrons are Ticos not tourists.

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

Good luck passing a tax they tried to pass about 10 years ago. I know this one is different, but every time they do this it is the same. They tried to tax every work station in a Sportsbook $10k. When that happened. Every country in Central and a few in South America made us offers to bring us there duty free for six months. Sportsbooks employ thousands of ticos and countless number of support jobs. Including all of the money that is pushed into this economy by the employees and owners. If they do this they are cutting their own throats. I guess it is possible, but very unlikely. If they make us move somewhere else, I just hope we are closer to the beach this time......heh heh heh.... But I forgot, ticos don't think about collateral damage.



the DR

_________________
“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity"

Glad to see your perspective on things Doc. How to they find and regulate sportsbooks? Seems like it would be easy to have home offices or unmarked offices with privacy. No, they don't seem to think before doing things. What if owners decided just to stop hiring Ticos and become clandestine...

"If they make us move somewhere else, I just hope we are closer to the beach this time......"


Dr.: El Salvador. San Salvador's Comalapa Int'l Airport is mui proximo Pacifico. Plus I can get a non-stop from my town on TACA. Those layover/transfer 2 airplanes to get to CR are getting rougher and rougher.

Map El Salvador link below. Comalapa Int'l, TACA's regional hub, 31 miles south west of San Salvador. Looks like 25-30 minutes by car on major highway and you are at the Pacific town of La Libertad or on the road to other ones to the north. Getting to beaches south looks like smaller roads and a little round about, but still very close.

http://www.cityofnanaimo.com/CAmerica/E ... adorRd.pdf

Lawmakers OK for the second time casino and call center tax
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The legislature Monday passed for the second and final time a tax on casinos and gambling call centers.

The measure levies a monthly tax on each slot machine, each gambling table and monthly net income. The call centers face a tax based on the number of employees.

Lawmakers pointed out that such a tax was part of the platform on which President Laura Chinchilla ran.

A.M. Costa Rica estimated that some casino owners will have to pay the government up to 8.5 million colons (more than $17,000) a month plus 10 percent of their net income, according to the new tax bill.

Operators of gambling call centers will have to pay up to
$82,000 a year in taxes under the same proposed law.

Although the actual wording of the final bill will not be known until it is published in the La Gaceta government newspaper, preliminary drafts grandfathered in casinos that were not related to hotels. Any new casinos will have to be associated with a four- or five-star hotel.

Such a measure continues the fiction that the casinos are for tourists, when the bulk of the customers are Costa Rican.

The measure passed with 42 of a possible 57 votes.

A court appeal by casino operators is possible.

The tax is supposed to be used for security purposes, but a last-minute amendment may have allocated all the money for the Ministerio de Justicia y Paz to build jail cells.

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

Good discussion guys. However today's amcostarica on page 4 there is an article saying that the bill has passed the "second reading" which is required before posting it in the Government newspaper Gaceta. It sounds to me that Lauda has this legislation on the fast track.

Killing more jobs just like Presidenta Laura does best!

"Such a measure continues the fiction that the casinos are for tourists, when the bulk of the customers are Costa Rican." From today's AM Costa Rica.

I am not a player but am around the casino's incidentally, in SJ and Quepos. Maybe they have some statistics on this but I'd say the opposite, that most of the players are not Tico's.

Perhaps your observation's valid in the areas you mention which are heavy tourist markets. I think the picture is different if you look at the casino's located in Heredia, the airport area, the Cariari area, etc. There I would think you would find the majority of customers are as the article pointed out. By the way when I use the term Ticos I mean that to include residents. An example would be the Horseshoe with its large Chinese clientele. They are not Ticos in the true definition of that term but they are not definitely not tourists and in this case would be lumped into the classification of Tico.

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

I don't think I've ever seen another gringo inside the Fiesta Casino on Avenida Central.

Skink, it's hard to find one at the Royal Dutch also.