Living in Costa Rica And Lowering Your Ignorance Tax

Foreigners choosing to remain ignorant regarding the language, culture and laws, suffer theft, higher prices, costly mistakes and mental anguish. They are in essence different forms of ignorance tax.

I tend to be more philosophical regarding loss here, especially petty theft. In my book Costa Rica Now, I wrote, “Petty theft is part of the cost of living here. So factor it in.”




Ignorance tax also applies when you lose perspective.




I lost two car stereos in two years. So I figured it cost me about $600 in repair and replacement cost. Now I could have gotten all jiggy about it and hired a watchman, which would have cost me at least $6,000 a year. So actually, $300 a year in loss was a bargain compared to a night watchman. Keeping things in perceptive saved me more than $10,000 over two years in ignorance tax.

When it comes to loss prevention, it’s important to understand the culture. Small lies and petty theft are acceptable here — especially if you enable it by leaving things out. It’s important to keep the semi-honest people “semi-honest.” Even in your own home, the saying “out of sight, out of mind” is crucial if you have domestic employees and gardeners.




You have to make it known that your attitude toward theft is different. That is, you will not tolerate theft. If your employees or community members feel that it’s no big deal that they steal your silverware spoon by spoon (they don’t use forks as much so the spoons always go first) they will have a field day with your things and your sanity in search of where the line is regarding petty theft.

So draw a quick and visible line right away.




Always keep your house well organized so you know what you have and where it is as some maids will try to create disorganization and when you give in, that is when the party begins.




If you stock up on small items decrease the temptation to steal by keeping them in a pantry under a small lock and key. It is as much as a statement as a security measure.

Tempting is the key word, and the less temptation the better.




So managing things such as stocking up (“so what, they have six of them and I have none!”), disorganization (“they will never know it’s gone!”) and having tolerance (small losses are part of the cost of living here) are crucial to adjusting to life and accepting loss in Costa Rica.




Reduce your taxes by displaying your awareness. Remember you are pretty much a target because of perceived affluence and lack of understanding how things work here. The more you convey to workers and neighbors in a playful way that you are not ignorant to being the target, and you are aware about how things are here, the less likely you are to pay the tax.




Understanding is a vital to tax avoidance and knowing the Ticos and their point of view will enhance your experience here. So lower the amount of ignorance tax paid by reading my book Phil Baker’s Costa Rica Now which makes a great Christmas gift!









The information on buying and owning here has saved people hundreds of thousands of dollars and I guarantee that it will save everyone that reads Costa Rica Now, and comes to Costa Rica, much more than the cost of the book.




Lastly, after you suffer loss remember two things: I learned this from a woman who after she lost things would think about how happy the person is that now possesses them. As weird as it sounds I have used this method and it’s amazing how well it works! Truly remarkable thought and so graceful and saintly.




In addition, a trick I learned from the magnificent Byron Katie in her book Loving What Is: when you lose something, a love, an item, a friend, remember that you are now free of the responsibility for it/them. It’s truly a liberating thought.




Those two coping strategies represent the highest aspects of living in Costa Rica — freedom and appreciation. Appreciating how much that person needed what they stole and/or how happy they are with it, and the freedom gained by not having to maintain (shelter/guard/clean/etc) what you no longer have.




The best way to shun anguish and reduce your cost of living is by learning the practical way of dealing with everyday life in Costa Rica. Understanding the situation is crucial to finding the solution: knowledge is the key to lowering ignorance tax.

[custom_script adID=97]

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.