Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
In the end the debate is moot.
Those of us who live here can accept whet we have here and be happy or we can decide we don’t like it and leave. We are not prisoners here.
For those who do not live here but think that the problems are as extreme as some posters here are inclined to represent can accept what we have and try it out and those who see problems in living here can seek other places to retire.
I am perfectly happy with our situation here and see the same issues presented here as being the same everywhere.
Pura Vida.
[quote=”costaricafinca”]Many of the stores & businesses that offer ‘10% off’ have higher prices to start with…[/quote]
I have one great example to refute that contention. We buy our needed medications at Farmacia El Sol in Santa Ana. After shopping around at various pharmacies in San Jose and Colon we found their prices were consistently lower and they offered the additional 10% discount for cash from the get-go.
They even beat the prices at PriceSmart.
[quote=”barbara ann”]besides taxes, most ex pats don’t know that if you ask you will get a ten percent discount at almost all businesses, not the grocery stores, but pharmacies,restaurants.[/quote]
It seems odd to me that we never had to ask for the 10% discount. We pay cash for everything and a 10% discount for cash is the norm with the exception of the grocers.
[quote=”Imxploring”][quote=”sweikert925″]Which taxes “mostly apply to foreigners”?[/quote]
Corp Tax… Luxury home tax…CAJA Tax… Exit Tax…Automotive import tax…. Energy pricing tiered tax! Those are a few of the “taxes” that hit expats more so than Ticos. While some might not be considered “taxes” they’re designed to extracted a government fee that will most likely not impact Ticos… but will hit expats for sure.
Then there’s the Gringo price tax that you’ll pay locally to anyone that thinks they might be able to impose their own personal “tax” on you! LOL[/quote]
Taxes are imposed on those who have the cash to pay them. If you think the Tico high earners aren’t getting hit with the same taxes that we are, ask them. The answers you get will amaze you.
[quote=”cfoutz”]I have been wanting to move to Costa Rica since the ’90s and still have not made it. All I hear about is retiring. I am not ready to retire and still need to make a living but information on this is sparse. I visited last year and really like the Grecia and Atenas areas. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make it work?[/quote]
If you can work on-line you can make it work but working here requires that you have a skill that is in demand and can not be filled by a Tico or have a viable business that you can manage but you can not do the labor..
[quote=”Imxploring”] CAJA participation as a REQUIREMENT and based on a percentage of income is neither fair or equitable.[/quote]
Ahh yes, a requirement. Now we are down to the real issue, aren’t we.
[b][u]The CAJA is a national single payer medical system into which everyone who lives in Costa Rica and has an income pays into the system based on their income.
[/u][/b]
My payment to CAJA is far below any medical insurance coverage available here or in the US by orders of magnitude and the care that I receive is equal to the care that I received in the US. The care that you receive in either case is the same. The difference is that with private insurance you can have a private room in a hospital where I will be in a dormitory. Having experienced both I prefer the camaraderie of the dormitory.You have the same choices that I had. [b][u]You will pay the fees that CAJA charges[/u][/b] and you can pay the exorbitant cost of private insurance in addition if you wish.
If you think that the cost of private insurance does not increase you are living in a fantasy world.
[quote=”Imxploring”] Sorry if I stuck a nerve that was not my intention. I am sorry if I have done so.[/quote]
It isn’t a nerve you struck it is your convoluted manner of thinking.
A single payer system, whether it is medical or other, is financed by taxation. There is no way around it.
Worrying about what any government entity will or will not do is a waste of time and effort. Politicians are not even close to being intelligent and they do not care what they do to those who vote for them. Their main concern is to please the masters who finance their re-election above anything else.
To think that politicians are any different in Costa Rica than they are in the States is a fantasy.
What any of the more recent residents are paying in higher costs for the CAJA pales in comparison with the 394% increase in our cost of electricity and 250+% increase in our water over the past 6 years. In my opinion both costa are taxes since both are national utilities.
We are voters and/or taxpayers and nothing more. You can scream and cry and raise all the hell you want to but you will not change the way things are.
If you think anything will be any different, no matter where you are, you are whistling Dixie but the Confederacy lost that war 150 years ago.
[quote=”Imxploring”] If I’m not mistaken you obtained your residency prior to the new rules being put in place. Can you confirm that? I know the ARCR use to have a pretty good deal for CAJA participation prior to the change in the law as well but I don’t believe that is available any longer either.[/quote]
We applied for residency in August 2008 and I finally obtained my cedula in September 2009. However, I was able to join CAJA in April 2009.
I have what I have and am satisfied with it.[quote=”Imxploring”] Some up to date current info on what residency applicants are being charged NOW for CAJA would be very helpful. I have a big problem paying a precentage of my income for a service (insurance) which is not normally based on such. My home, auto, health, and life insurance premiums are based on risk…. not on how much I earn. If CR is basing it on a percentage of income I see it as a tax… so let’s call it what it is! At least then we’d get the foreign tax credit on our US tax returns![/quote]
Since it is government provided program I have always seen the charge for CAJA as a tax. My income is not so high that I need to worry about nickel and diming on my tax return. In addition I did not move to Costa Rica to enrich myself. I moved here to enjoy the beautiful country and the temperament of the locals.
However, I don’t see it as based on income because what we pay is all over the board compared to income. It seems to be based on some incomprehensible arbitrary decisions made by the CAJA itself. While my cost is just under 6% of income my wife is paying 3% of her income.
The Tico living in house is seeing his employer paying more for his CAJA too so it appears to be the normal result of inflation.
I have no idea whether new residents are paying more for their CAJA than we did when we arrived. I’m sure that some of the more recent residents will be willing to share what percentage of income CAJA is charging them. We will have to wait for their input.[quote=”Imxploring”] And for folks that think you’ve beaten the system by only declaring the minimum needed for residency (for example just your SS income) and not included other income sources (such as a pension) you can bet the next step CR will take is requesting your US tax return information. [/quote]
I claimed all of my income, my pension as well as our Social Security, even though it exceeded the required $1,000 by multiples and I am willing to provide Costa Rica with my tax returns if they ask for them. If you are so worried about the cost you should forget about the CAJA and purchase private insurance.
[quote=”Imxploring”] Don’t think for a minute it can’t happen. The information agreements that Uncle Sam forced on the world’s governments to collect taxes and find out what you have and where will become a two way information exchange with CR and any country you’re residing in wanting to know just how much you earn in total…. and they will seek their share! Even if Uncle Sam doesn’t provide it to CR, how many folks will be comfortable being told they must provide tax return information on total income as part of a residency application or renewal?
The last thing I am going to do is worry about what policies any idiot government is going to enact.
[quote=”Imxploring”] I see this CAJA issue as the start of a bigger problem. Opinions welcomed![/quote]
1 – If your income is so high that you need to worry about what you pay in taxes you certainly don’t need the benefit of the lower cost of living here.
2 – Spending your time worrying about what the government may do is a waste of time and not good for your health.
3 – If you can’t enjoy Costa Rica on the basis of what we have here don’t live here.[quote=”costaricafinca”]Scott, do you know what percentage someone, who has applied as an Investor, by way of purchasing a house would be?[/quote]
Although I could have qualified as an investor I chose to become a pensioner.
What I pay into CAJA is still under 6% of my income. Although I can not quote rates I do know that private insurance is much more expensive.We have been totally satisfied with CAJA hospitalization and services.
[quote=”costaricafinca”]My husband has just returned from paying our CAJA at the local office and it went up this month by $7, so [i]possibly [/i]all of us, citizens and expats alike, will see the payments rise. Others who have also affiliated on their own, directly with CAJA, have also reported $8 and $10 a month increase[/quote]
Like everything else we are seeing inflation in CAJA. The wife’s went from 16,000 to 23,000 and mine went from 42,000 to 49,000.
I know things get crazy but if you’re unhappy with the way things work here you always have the option of living elsewhere.
Scott hit the nail on the head with his comment about “moronic politicians”. They exist everywhere and it’s just as bad in the States.
Sooner or later there are going to be enough expats in Nicaragua for them to start doing the same things to fill their pockets.
[quote=”johnnyh”][quote=”orcas0606″]Maybe Infinito should sue Oscar Arias!!!!
[quote=”waggoner41″]It is one thing for individuals to pan for gold in the streams and rivers of Costa Rica and quite another to begin open-pit mining at the cost of the virgin forest.
The company clear cut a section of forest before permission had been decided and Costa Rica should be suing to have the forest restored to its original condition.[/quote][/quote]
Didn’t he win some kind of a prize? Peace prize I think, but so did Barry. Did his bank account grow as a consequence of his signing contracts with the mining operation? But then I’m getting cynical here. Hang me from the highest tree![/quote]
Has nothing to do with Arias or a peace prize.
Infinito got out way ahead of the legal proceedings against them and figured they were going to waltz in before the legal issues were settled and cleared about a hectare of virgin forest to start an open pit mine on the basis of a trade agreement between Costa Rica and Canada.
The Costa Rican Supreme Court ruled against them on the basis of destruction of the environment and they had to pull out.
Canadian organizations Mine Watch and The Council of Canadians are up in arms and telling Infinito they should back off.
It is one thing for individuals to pan for gold in the streams and rivers of Costa Rica and quite another to begin open-pit mining at the cost of the virgin forest.
The company clear cut a section of forest before permission had been decided and Costa Rica should be suing to have the forest restored to its original condition.
I have two sons who work through the internet. One is a part owner of a small but well established Internet Service Provider providing Internet services to their local community. The other creates web sites for the clientele of the ISP.
Either or both of them could move to Costa Rica and continue their work paying U.S. taxes and having their income direct deposited into their U.S. bank accounts.
It is completely legal since the work is in the U.S. and the salaries are paid into U.S. accounts and could be drawn from ATM machines in colones here.
