On July 14th 2021, Law 9996 “Law of Attraction of Investors, Rentiers and Pensioners” was published in the Official Newspaper. Its purpose is to encourage the attraction of investors, rentiers, and pensioners to contribute to the economic reactivation. Among the most important aspects are:

a) INCENTIVES:
The people covered by this law will enjoy the following incentives:
Duty free and all import taxes present for a single time, for the importation of household items. In the applications they will be able to protect their dependents, for immigration purposes.

Up to two land, air and/or sea transportation vehicles may be imported, for personal or family use, free of all import, tariff and value-added taxes.

The amounts declared as income to qualify for the benefits of the law will be exempt from income tax.
Exoneration of twenty percent (20%) of the total transfer tax, in those real estate that they acquire within the term of the law.

Exemption from import taxes for instruments or materials for professional or scientific practice, carried out by the person with the migratory category of investor, retired resident, or rentier resident.

b) TAX RESIDENCE:
The beneficiaries of the Law of Attraction of Investors, Rentiers and Pensioners will not be automatically considered as tax residents.

c) INVESTORS:
For the category of investors, for the period of validity of the law, the sum of ONE HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND US DOLLARS (US $ 150,000.00) is established as the new investment range, according to the official sale exchange rate determined by the Bank Central de Costa Rica, whether in real estate, registrable assets, shares, securities and productive projects or projects of national interest. In those cases where the investment is regulated by special laws, it will be analyzed individually.

In addition, investors may be considered those who invest in venture capital funds or in sustainable tourism infrastructure projects.

d) VALIDITY:
The term of validity will be five years from this past July 14th, and those who opted for said benefits during the first five years of validity of the law, will keep them for a period of ten years from the date on which they are were awarded.

At ERP Lawyers & Associates we take with great enthusiasm, and we value the approval of this bill very positively, because without a doubt they are very attractive benefits for people who think to emigrate to our country within the indicated categories. In addition to the above, the attraction of these categories will alleviate the fiscal situation by encouraging foreign investment.

If you are contemplating emigrating to Costa Rica, we invite you to contact us at jose@erplawyers.com where our team of experts will gladly provide you with the necessary legal advice and inform you about our payment benefits.