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[quote=”Scott”][quote=”Ving”]”If you want to make a million dollars in Costa Rica you better bring in two million”[/quote]
This is an amusing quote Edwin and I’ve heard different versions of the same joke in many different countries and it’s certainly relevant for anybody who is new to any country.
[/quote]
My favorite was Sir Richard Branson as he addressed graduates at commencement exercises ,,,
[B]”I’m going to tell you all how to make a small fortune! Start with a large fortune and buy an airline.”[/B]
[quote=”Imxploring”]
My view is it’s better to fly under the radar than to put yourself firmly on it when the cost to keeping your stealth is rather cheap.
Just my two cents.
[/quote]
Exactly !!
And though the luxury tax was advertised as being “temporary”, those of us from the States know that there is no such thing as a temporary tax. We’re still paying excise taxes from WWII put in place to curb demand.
[quote=”Costaricachuck”]Additional question, Can you tell me what information I need to give social security people and what information they will need to make a direct deposit into Costa Rica bank account? Thanks[/quote]
I doubt that they will …
Direct deposit (aka ACH transfers) are done through a US Federal Reserve network.
Depositing funds into your CR account would require a wire.
If I could ACH Xfer money to CR … that would be much less expensive.
[quote=”orcas0606″]It takes 10 working days to clear [/quote]
Just to clarify …
Are you saying that it takes 10 days to clear your US account … or that it is 10 days before you are given access to the funds in CR?
Thank you both for the info.
Banco National charges my builder $40 to deposit my check drawn on a US bank.
It clears my account within 48 hours and they deny him access to the funds for 3 weeks.
That’s good to know about BCR as I have an account there and that may be a more economical way for me to pay.
Do you happen to know what BCR charges to receive a foreign wire ?
[quote=”pharg”]More worrisome from volcanoes is sulfur dioxide.[/quote]
And the resulting acid rain when hydrated …
But CO2 production isn’t just about burning hydrocarbons …
How much is produced completely unnecessarily in the production of beer and spirits …
The leavening of bread …
And the cruelest irony of all is that pretty much all the oil that we have came from about three relatively brief periods in Earth’s history when the planet’s CO2 levels were extremely elevated … far beyond anything that we have today …
With that said, CO2 is far from the only greenhouse gas. Methane, CFCs, Ozone, and even water vapor in the form of emitted steam from a volcano can be a greenhouse gas and absorb and emit IR radiation in the same wavelength as Earth.
When China shut down industry in Beijing and west of Beijing in preparation for the Olympics, particulate in the air over LA dropped 40% …
You either have to get everyone on board … or you give those who do not participate a helluva competitive edge …
Do you really believe that the US, with the highest corporate tax rate on the planet and among the highest regulatory burden, can afford to be any less competitive ?
Is industry not leaving fast enough already ?
Or, are we going to depend on the service sector for our future ? I’m gonna come mow your grass and you can come mow mine … and somehow we’re going to build a thriving economy out of that … right ?
Nah … don’t think so. When manufacturing leaves, the US becomes a third world country.
Those who understand are building their Arks. The HNWIs are mostly going South. The UHNWIs are finding their way to mostly Singapore and Dubai.
Well ….
Regardless of which camp that you’re in … it’s pretty much universally recognized that one volcanic eruption pumps more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than years of human activity …
So … before I start walking my happy butt to work, lets see if we can find a way to drive some big ass corks in those things … 😆
Well …
I’m not really trying to scare him off … but I want him to be happy …
And we both know that it takes a certain personality to be happy in CR …
I’d rather him find out now that it’s likely to take hours to do at a bank what he does in seconds in the US …
Costa Rica is not a place to believe that your time (or opinion) is valuable … as it has no value at all to anyone else …
Whether that be the serviceman that you are waiting on who was supposed to be there 3 hours ago … or the cattle farmer who decided to move his herd down the middle of the only street to your house for 5 miles.
Some personalities would find this insulting and disrespectful and be quite unhappy … others would simply think … Ahhh … whatever … I’ll just have another drink.
Today, I am very much that second person … but I can remember an earlier time when I was much more driven, and always in a hurry, that CR would not have made me very happy.
I believe that statistics are made up of real people and the one thing that these people have in common is that they don’t think that statistics apply to them.
Take care,
Bill
bushmaster,
You impress me as a structured person that lives by a set of rules and you expect everyone else to live by the rules too.
I think Costa Rica is going to drive you nuts !
When someone sticks a gun in your face and robs you, the cops aren’t going to be all that upset. They’re likely not going to come to you. You’ll likely have to go to them to make a report.
When someone breaks into your condo and steals your stuff, that’s not going to upset them either. On the off chance that they catch the thief in the act, he’s not going to jail. He’s going to get the equivalent of a traffic ticket. Costa Rica can’t even keep their murderers and rapists in jail .. they’re certainly not to going to send a Tico to jail for stealing from a Gringo.
And if you decide to fire your maid and she doesn’t like it, she’s going to get her husband/boyfriend to slap her around a bit and then go the the police and tell them that you did it. You [B]WILL[/B] be arrested immediately and likely held in jail for a year before being found guilty, sentenced and deported [B]UNLESS[/B] you give her the big financial settlement that she demands, at which time, she will recant her story to the police. But, nothing will happen to her. It may be a mistake to let her know how much money that you have.
You’re going to watch the Tico in line in front of you pay a lower price than you for [B]EXACTLY[/B] the same item.
It’s all about trust under their legal system based on Napoleonic law rather than English common law. You see, any Notario in the country can change who owns your property at the National Registry without your knowledge or consent. If he says that you appeared before him and transferred the property, then [B]THAT[/B] is [B]EXACTLY[/B] what happened under their system. He can change the title of your property to his buddy’s name who will subsequently sell it to an innocent third party. This innocent third party will have greater rights than you do in court. They will likely retain the property and you will have to try to recover your loss from the crooked lawyer. Good luck with that !
CR isn’t the Wild West because, there, law was the 5 rounds in the cylinder and justice was the one in the chamber. In CR, they won’t even let you have a gun, They probably won’t let the security guard that you hire have one.
The move to CR doesn’t work for over half the folks who try it …
Please give serious thought to what you’re going to be able to live with before making this large financial step.
Yes, it is a beautiful country … but “paradise” comes at a price.
[quote=”redbeard52″]
You do need to make sure you understand all of the ramifications of owning a home via a corporation – potential CR corporate taxes (void now, but likely to be re-enacted), FACTA reporting in the USA, having a CR “Will” to transfer CR property upon death, and possible loss of USA capital gains tax on increase in value of your home (when sold).
[/quote]Not even to mention IRS reporting requirements!! You need to find this out immediately !!
Last year, many CR banks started charging $40 to process foreign checks.
Even though they clear my account within 48 hours of being deposited in CR … the CR banks will not give the intended recipient access to the funds for 3 to 4 weeks …
Remember, CR’s debt is denominated in foreign currency. It needs this money to “float” their debt quite badly. So, they are going to keep it … and use it … as long as they possibly can.
You need to realize … [B] You’re not in Kansas anymore![/B]
Probably the most fair exchange rate will be at the Banco Central …
I’m sure that you can get pounds at the currency exchange at the airport … but it’ll cost you …
Why not Euros ?
Until the British Parliament actually votes to invoke Article 50 … it is still very much a part of the EU.
And even if that happens, I expect the Euro will be welcome in GB for a very long time.
Maybe Scott will weigh in on this … but I think that you’re just making work for yourself.
You may also check to see if you can get service from
http://crwifi.com/Hi Elizabeth,
I live in Charlotte. Your post leaves me with more questions than answers.
What types of IRS forms you are (were) supposed to file depends on a number of things.
Was the corp an SA or SRL. Form 5471 or Form ?
What is/was the value of the property ? Possibly Form 8938
What is/was your filing status ? Are/were you a resident of CR or the US?
How is the property titled ? Was it titled in the name of corp that you have ended ? Possible Form 926.
There is [B]NOTHING[/B] that happens at the National Registry or through any Costa Rican Bank that the IRS does not have access to if there is a US citizen involved. And this info will likely be handed to them on a silver platter without request.
If you want advice from someone who is both a US international accountant and US tax attorney, you may want to check out http://www.taxmeless.com
It’ll cost you $300 for a telephonic or Skype consultation … but [B]ALL[/B] of your questions will be answered by someone competent to advise you in both disciplines.
But first, spend some time compiling all of your questions and all details of your financial dealings in CR.
Take care,
Bill
P.S Do’t be too hard on your accountant. This is a highly specialized area and I would speculate that only a small fraction of one percent of accountants know anything about it. The IRS code is over 30,000 pages and is constantly changing. How much can one person be reasonably expected to keep up with and still have time to make a living applying it?
Taking tax advice from a realtor is like asking your barber about the seriousness of your chest pains !
[quote=”Imxploring”]…you can always wash it in some dish detergent before putting it back into circulation.
[/quote]
Sounds like “money laundering” to me … lol
Well … I’m assuming BNCR is Banco Nacional … they seem to be a bit better than BCR …
In late 2011 … I wired a bit more than double the amounts that you’re speaking of to BCR … into a lawyer’s trust account, no less … and you wouldn’t believe the hoops that I had to jump through to get it released …
They wanted me to prove the origination of every penny before they would release. Now, how do you do that?
Ultimately, monthly account statements for two years, letters of character from bank officials (try to get those!), and a few other things … each of which had to be attached to a notarized statement with Apostille attached … and sent to CR. Almost a month to get it released. BTW … BCR refused to just reverse the wire as well … as I was frustrated enough to just forget the whole thing a find a place that the US didn’t have shaking in their boots …
And this was BEFORE the full blown implementation of FATCA in CR.
Lately, I try to keep my wires to my builder less than 25K … but BN still makes him run down there and produce an invoice before they release it into his account.
I’m happy that you have had better experience … but the system is obviously “guilty until proven innocent” … and what you have to do to prove your innocence just seems to be getting more and more obtrusive …
CR seems to be bucking for the 51st star … and, if so, what’s the point?
[quote=”Imxploring”]…. thus making it even more unsellable I’m guessing! LOL[/quote]
I think that it’s all becoming unsaleable …
The passage of FATCA … and Costa Rica’s ensuing paranoia over it has made it ever increasingly difficult for an American to function in Costa Rica … especially when it comes to wiring money into CR …
Most circulated currency is tainted with drugs … and with Costa Rica’s recent passage of Ley No. 9387 … the police can confiscate, at will, any property (including money) without much, if anything, in the way of due process …
Now, the fool you seek must come from Europe …
And it was a wreck pre-Brexit …
It’ll all catch up before long …
But, for the foreseeable future, property in Costa Rica is likely to be as marketable as a timeshare in the middle of the Everglades …
The expats that own property in Costa Rica will likely leave it to their heirs to take the loss … as most was purchased in cash, and therefore, there is little impetus to force a sale …
[B]”Costa Rican Real Estate Investment”[/B]
Will it become a world famous oxymoron … or simply the punchline to countless jokes ?
