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We were told that vehicles from Panama are much less expensive than those in Costa Rica. I found this to be very true on the models I have compared. However, the question of import duties arises. I was told that they are less than those coming from the US, but have no idea of how to find out what they would be. Has anyone purchased a vehicle in Panama and brought it here?
Thanks[quote=”PeteB”]We were told that vehicles from Panama are much less expensive than those in Costa Rica. I found this to be very true on the models I have compared. However, the question of import duties arises. I was told that they are less than those coming from the US, but have no idea of how to find out what they would be. Has anyone purchased a vehicle in Panama and brought it here?
Thanks[/quote]When you purchase a vehicle it must be registered in the country in which you purchase it. Then you have to pay the import duties to bring it to Costa Rica and pay to register it here.
Unless using it as an excuse to vacation in Panama the cost of the trip, hotel accommodations while arranging the purchase and registration would consume much of the savings.
Since Panama is not on my list of places I am anxious to visit I would have to save a substantial amount to go through the hassle.
This has been discussed many times before, on a variety of CR forums, and still people are importing from the USA, so it seems like there are no savings, except the shipping [i]if it is a personal vehicle that one has shipped with their personal belongings or personally imported[/i].
You have to pay duty/tax it based on the Costa Rican ‘book rate’ wherever the vehicle originates.The argument for importing a vehicle is that you get a U.S.-quality vehicle with a known history (and mileage). I have no idea what’s offered for sale in Panama.
There appears to be some confusion here, so I guess that I did not make the original post clear enough. There are two vehicles that I have made an “apples to apples” comparison on cars selling here and in Panama. A similar vehicle in Panama sells for about $10,000 – $15,000 less than Costa Rica. According to what I have been told, the vehicles coming from Panama are not subject to the same duties as those from the US. – All I want to know – [b]Is this correct and what is the duty structure? [/b]Unless you buy new in Costa Rica, you really don’t know what you are getting – And, I can verify that one.
ThanksI’m sure Arden Brink (arden@shipcostarica.com) could find the answer for you …
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.com[quote=”PeteB”]There appears to be some confusion here, so I guess that I did not make the original post clear enough. There are two vehicles that I have made an “apples to apples” comparison on cars selling here and in Panama. A similar vehicle in Panama sells for about $10,000 – $15,000 less than Costa Rica. According to what I have been told, the vehicles coming from Panama are not subject to the same duties as those from the US. – All I want to know – [b]Is this correct and what is the duty structure? [/b]Unless you buy new in Costa Rica, you really don’t know what you are getting – And, I can verify that one.
Thanks[/quote]This is not correct. When you purchase a vehicle and bring it in to Costa Rica and register it, you must pay taxes. The taxes range from 58% to 79% of the Valor Importacion plus about 4% of the Valor Hacienda. While the calculation tool is a little difficult to use and understand, you can find these values here: http://www.hacienda.go.cr/autohacienda/autovalor.aspx
I have imported four vehicles from the US and in three of the four cases, the taxes here were more than I paid for the vehicles in the US. To my knowledge there is no special deal for a vehicle orginating in Panama or anywhere else for that matter.
If you are doing an Apples to Apples comparison, you should include these taxes in your calculation. So, your $10K to $15K in perceived savings may be offset by the fact that the vehicle you are pricing in Costa Rica already has the taxes paid and the one in Panama doesn’t.
What Year, Make, and Model of vehicle are you looking at? Good luck to you with your purchase.
Jerry
[quote=”ottfog”]When you purchase a vehicle and bring it in to Costa Rica and register it, you must pay taxes. [/quote]
Jerry is correct. All cars imported pay the same taxes, regardless of where they originated.
You often hear that “cars in Panama are cheaper” but that is ONLY a valid comparison if you’re comparing it to buying the same car in the U.S. In BOTH cases you will have to get it here to Costa Rica and then pay the exact same costs to “nationalize” it here. To compare a price for a car in Panama to a car here in Costa Rica is a meaningless comparison.
(Of course, if you’re going to LIVE in Panama, that is one of the “benefits” — cars do cost less there than they do in Costa Rica. But if you’re going to live in Costa Rica, well, that just doesn’t mean much!)
IF, in fact, you found a car in Panama that cost significantly less than the same car in the U.S. AND you had the time/energy/patience/etc. to go to Panama, buy it, and drive it back, it is conceivable that you would save money — i.e. the difference in the purchase price (between Panama and the U.S.) and presumed savings in driving it from Panama vs. shipping it from the U.S. Once it arrives here, you will have to pay the duty, the inscription tax, the marchamo, the RTV, brokerage, legal costs, fees, etc. Those will be the same REGARDLESS of where the vehicle came from.
As Jerry alludes to, broadly speaking cars here will cost about as much (and with older cars often more) as their “value” in the U.S. (and probably Panama!) to nationalize here. Despite everyone searching for the “magic bullet” way to get around this, it doesn’t exist. At least not at this time. This is what cars cost here.
Hope that helps and feel free to get in touch if you need more specific help.
–arden–
ShipCostaRica
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