There are positive and negative changes to report

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

Editor's Note: While this article was accurate at the time of publication, some information may now be outdated. We are currently preparing a comprehensive update. Sign up for our Alerts to be notified as soon as the revised content is live!

This past year has been very fascinating and full of changes in Costa Rica. Most notably, it seems property fraud and crime are on an increase. The government has attempted to make some modifications to the laws, but crime is noticeably worse than last year and the year before that, too.

Sometime around mid-year, while driving to Multiplaza del Este, this author and his daughter of 13 saw firsthand a woman shot in cold blood at a bus stop by two men on a motorcycle who wanted to steal her packages. This event was a horrifying experience, especially for a 13-year-old girl. She asked at the time, “Papi, is this what Costa Rica is becoming?”

Tax tips for expats who want a comfortable holiday

By: Garland M. Baker B.

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Here is the help one needs for this year's tax season. Most expats hold their Costa Rican assets in a company. Whether it be a sociedad anónima or a sociedad de responsabilidad limitada — also known as an S.R.L. or in Gringo speak an L.L.C. — expats have tax obligations like Costa Ricans. However, most expats use inactive companies to hold the assets, and tax obligations are different for active and inactive companies.

Active companies are those that perform some commercial activity and receive revenue. These companies must file Costa Rica tax form D-101 by Monday, Dec. 15. Any taxes due also must be paid by this date.

Inactive companies are those that may only hold assets and only exist for that purpose. The asset could be properties or vehicles. These companies do not need to file any form or pay any tax by the filing date mentioned above. This is a great relief for most expats because they only have inactive companies and not active ones. However, it is crucial to check to see if a company is considered active or inactive by the tax department, Dirección General de Tributación.

Here is how to check: 1.) go to the “Sistema de Identificación de Contribuyentes,” the taxpayer identification system, 2.) in the section at the bottom of the Web page called “Consulta de Personas Jurídicas” type in the company's cedula number or company identification number. Do not use dashes. Just type the string of numbers with no spaces or the company's razón social, the company name, and 3.) then click buscar, “find” button under the box.

The Web page will then return the following information under the box: 1.) sin obligaciónes, meaning the company is inactive and has no tax obligations, 2.) con obligaciónes, meaning the company does have tax obligations, or 3.) no hay registros en el rango solicitado, meaning there are no records on file for the company.

If the company being checked is sin obligaciónes, it is inactive. If that information is correct, and the company only holds assets and is truly inactive, one can go back to having morning coffee. Everything is the way it should be and nothing needs to be done. No tax form needs to be filed, and no taxes are due until March when the pesky education and culture taxes, Timbre de Educación y Cultura, has to be filed and paid.

If the result is con obligaciónes, and one is running a commercial enterprise, the person in charge has to get those tax forms filed and to pay the tax before the deadline. Every so often the tax people make a mistake, and a company is con obligaciónes when it should not be. If this happens, the responsible party must file form D-140, Declaración de Desinscripción del Registro de Contribuyentes. A “declaration to unregister as a taxpayer,” with the tax department to put it in an inactive status.

Finally, if the company is not registered at all because the No hay registros en el rango solicitado message appears, the company is not properly registered with the tax department. One should register the company using form D-406, Solicitud de Legalización de Libros, solicitation to legalize books. There was a time the tax people wanted all companies to file tax forms, but no more. The tax department actually legalized all company books for all companies until last year, now they will not even accept accounting books, only legal books for registration. Today, it is critical not to file a tax form for an inactive company because by doing so, the company is automatically made active and con obligaciónes.

The fact that the Dirección General de Tributación will no longer legalize accounting books is somewhat in contradiction to the Costa Rican Commercial Code Article 251, which states that corporate entities must have legal accounting books. Most expats know that Costa Rica is a land of contradictions and that multiple interpretations exist of the law and rules, so one just needs to go with the flow.

All companies should have an annual meeting according to the commercial code, where a balance sheet is presented and discussed among shareholders. In practice, for inactive companies, the meeting event usually does not take place physically. A minute act is written into the shareholders' book that one did take place somewhere, and the shareholders sign the book from time to time. If these minutes do not exist, most legal books are blank for inactive companies, they should be consolidated into one entry where the shareholders approve the current state of affairs of the entity including its balance sheet.

Expats working in Costa Rica who make an income and who are not on a company payroll should register with the tax department as individuals, file and pay taxes. The Dec. 15 tax deadline also applies to them. However, many expats are in Costa Rica working illegally and do not register or pay the taxes they should pay. In essences, they are working illegally and are evading taxes as well. In the past, few have been caught because the cross-checking system has not been good. This will significantly change for the 2009 tax year, and expats who are not paying their due will surely be increasing their exposure to being caught and charged with hefty fines.

To enjoy the Christmas holidays, get the tax obligations out of the way early. There are only seven filing days to Dec. 15. Usually, the banks that take tax forms (Some do and some do not) have long lines during the last days. This year those would be Friday, Saturday and of course Monday of next week, the final day. Some banks get into squabbles with the tax authority and decide not to receive the forms. The best advice is to try one bank and then another until one is found that will take the D-101 income tax form.

Remember, inactive companies do not need to file. All expats should take the time to check out their companies to see if they are properly registered.

Article first published in A.M. Costa Rica on December 7, 2008. 

The Caja throws a few curves for expat employers

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

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How to handle employees and their paperwork represents a continuing problem for expats.

An article on domestic employees produced a great deal of interest. Many persons wrote and said they were not legally registering their employees and did not have workers compensation for them either. Some expats asked if they needed to cover themselves as well. Everyone who wrote still is confused. 

Get a raw deal from the government? Sue'em

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

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People are tired of losing money in Costa Rica.  They are fed up with flushing it down the toilet due to the mistakes made by the Registro Nacional and other government entities.  They are also disgusted with the bulling around they get from administrative offices.

Expats and Ticos alike are fighting to get their money back. To resolve their conflicts, they are suing the government, holding it responsible for its inefficiencies and negligence.  They are using a revised procedural code called the Código Procesal Contencioso Administrativo or the procedural code for administrative disputes.

Those hidden pitfalls in hiring domestic employees

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

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So many expats make the same mistakes with domestic workers in Costa Rica.  Usually, their intentions are good.  Nevertheless, from the outset of the work relationship most start it off on the wrong foot, giving workers a reason to go to court.  Why should they wait to be fired upon by the domestic staff? They should correct the mistakes. It is easy to do.

The scenario typically starts innocently enough.  Expats come to the country and start looking for a domestic employee to help with household chores. This process starts by asking others for references or putting the word out in their community.  Placing ads is not common practice for domestic workers because all kinds of weirdos answer them.  Some even are crooks looking to case out locations to rob.

Expat wins long, lonely fight to keep his investment

By: Garland M. Baker B.

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After four long years of fighting hard in the courts in Costa Rica, an expat saved his property investment.  He thought all hope was lost, but in his case justice prevailed.  Last week, the expat had what was stolen from him returned:  A mortgage fraudulently canceled by property thieves and an attorney gone bad. 

The result of this expat's long legal battle shows that the criminal courts are impotent in fighting crime.  His case proves there is a way to use the civil courts to get back properties that were illegally transferred or manipulated.

Here is the story:

Mortgage scam traps expats seeking a good return

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

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Looking for high interest on money? There are loan brokers in the local market with customers looking for cash. Some of these brokers are even lawyers representing their clients.

Watch out. There is a scam which preys on anyone willing to lend their hard-earned savings. It is a trap for those blinded by money and eager to beat the interest they are getting at the bank or on certificates of deposit.

This is how the swindle goes.

Strong zoning push to target maritime zone projects

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

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Foreigners developing on the coast are handicapped because there are little or no guidelines for development.  Guidelines for developers come from regulatory or zoning plans.  These plans are — in theory — designed to align the land and human activities to the best use of resources without depleting those resources.

In the past, foreigners interested in developing have skirted the rules, especially in the maritime zone.  Often, they have had to do so because no coherent rules were in place.  Today, the Costa Rican government is finally trying to regulate growth and building, especially on the coasts, with integral territorial zoning plans.  Each one will encompass large areas.  These integral plans are coming for areas all over the country.

Faltering real estate market presents opportunities

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

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A personal trip to the Parrita-Quepos area to look at property and meet with real estate agents turned out to be an invaluable experience. The real estate slowdown is quite evident, but there is good news for well-informed investors. Today’s deep discounts are tomorrow’s profits.

For sale signs are everywhere. Property prices have dropped on some real estate 50 percent or more. Some people have walked away from the houses they were building before completion and assigned them to real estate agents with instructions to sell them for whatever they can get. Some condominium developers are selling their projects out using fractional ownership, so they can make some sales and bring in badly needed cash flow.

This funny word can get a foreigner the money here

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

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Expats living in Costa Rica may be interested to know that certain foreign judgments are enforceable in Costa Rica by a process called an exequatur.  Going through the process to get an exequatur can mean collecting monies due when they were otherwise lost, or collecting child support from a deadbeat spouse hiding in this country.

The court here can even order judicial liens over assets — called embargos in Costa Rica — to protect assets in this country during litigation in another country.

Criminal court is simply no place for an expat

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

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Costa Rica is a sue crazy society. Many Costa Ricans and foreigners believe court is the place to solve their disputes. Because of this belief, the court system is over burdened and currently in a state of meltdown.  Court cases last for years in this country, and many criminals get off because of this.

Most expats do not know how the court system works in Costa Rica.  This article summarizes for the lay person the criminal court system.

Child's first pimp might be Mom

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

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Costa Rican girls — and boys — get into prostitution for a variety of reasons in Costa Rica.  Most of the reasons have to do with family economics.  Some households that cannot make ends meet push their kids into selling themselves.

In the campo, the countryside, some mothers tell their sub-teen girls to go hang out around the local bar to sell themselves to the patrons.  The girls take their earnings home, so the family can survive.  In other cases, the mothers of these kids are just money hungry.  The easiest way for them to make money is to pressure their children into prostitution.   

Illegal pimping is the engine that drives sex tourism

By: Garland M. Baker B.

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Prostitution is legal in Costa Rica.  The activity is legal because there is no law against it.  In this country, if there is no law prohibiting something, it is legal.

The legality of paid sex has spawned a wide range of activities that are not legal. Yet, Costa Rica makes no effort to enforce these laws, despite lip service to the contrary.

The criminal code lumps most of these illegal activities under the heading of pimping. The skeptical could call it, simply, marketing.

Costa Rica has become a magnet for the sex tourist.  The country rivals competitors like Thailand, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Dominican Republic and Cuba.  Brazil and the Dominican Republic are the de facto leaders for sex tourism in the Western Hemisphere, but Costa Rica is a serious contender.

The penal code prohibits pimping in Articles 169 and 171.  However, pimping is widespread throughout the country, and the government is generally tolerating the activity. Pimping is the marketing engine that brings the customer and the prostitute together. Without pimping, there would be much less sex tourism.

There are two words for pimping in Spanish, proxenetismo and rufianería.  Proxenetismo is the activity of promoting or fostering prostitution of either sex.  Rufianería is coercively engaging another into prostitution for financial gain.  

Wikipedia defines it this way: “A pimp finds and manages clients for prostitutes and engages them in prostitution (in brothels in most cases and some cases street prostitution) to profit from their earnings.”

Almost every expat knows there are literally hundreds of brothels throughout San José and thousands throughout the country.  The owners of those brothels advertise to get clients and manage the money for the prostitutes.  

This is how it works: one goes into a brothel to have sex with a prostitute and pays another person for the activity.   The owner keeps a portion of the proceeds, and the prostitute gets a percentage of the take.  In other words, the owner of the establishment “finds and manages clients for prostitutes.”  This is pimping.  The government does not crack down on these locations or controls them in any way.

Other pimps are selling sex that go unnoticed and uncontrolled.  Who are they?  Well, they are taxi drivers, tour bus operators, guides, and — believe it or not — other expats.   

These people arrange sex for anyone.  They sell men and women, boys and girls.  Some students — as in high school and university students — prefer to work with tour bus operators because they can hide their activity from their parents.  Prices for a high school or university student can range from $100 to an astonishing $500 an hour because the prostitutes are outside the normal marketplace.   

One extraordinarily beautiful 19-year-old called prostitution “her hobby.” She said she engaged in the activity because she came from a middle-class Costa Rican family and wanted more.  Her family does not know she is a prostitute.  A tour bus operator finds her clients, drives her to their location and picks her up when she is done.  

Some expats also make their living arranging tours to Costa Rica for the sole purpose of assisting their customers in finding prostitutes.   Others arrange sex tours of the local hotels and brothels to sample the menu.  Others run online “peek shows.”  Many of these activities would fall under a reasonable definition of pimping as contains in the Costa Rican code.

Try this test: Google these keywords prostitutes costa rica.   The results of the test will reflect Websites promoting sex tourism to Costa Rica.  Foreigners, including Americans — not Costa Ricans — own and run them.  Often, customers must buy a package from the Website for their sex vacation.  This again is “finding and managing clients for prostitutes” or pimping.   

Does Costa Rica try to control this activity?  No, it does not.  In some cases, fishing or property-finding trips to Costa Rica by foreigners disguise the real activity.  

The Óscar Arias government seeks to crack down on casino operations because officials say such locations promote prostitution. No official says anything about the rampant pimping and prostitution visible and invisible all over the country. Only when underage youngsters might be involved do officials express dismay.

The visible includes the strip clubs that are just fronts for the activities that go on in the private rooms inside, where the house takes a substantial cut.

One of the few — and the most famous — case in Costa Rica for pimping was the ring run by Sinaí Monge.  She was accused and found guilty of pimping in 2004.   

Her case was notorious because she allegedly arranged sex with minors for public figures, football players and even judicial workers. Although she was convicted, years of surveillance, wiretapping and detective work failed to get the goods on any other person. Her prison sentence was modest.

Why does Costa Rica not enforce articles 169 and 171 of the penal code?

Maybe because it would be an almost impossible task. It would mean closing down thousands of brothels throughout the country.  Possibly, it is because sex tourism is significant for the economy of Costa Rica.   

On the other hand, prostitution could be so much a part of the Costa Rican culture no one really cares.

Article first published in A.M. Costa Rica on July 7, 2008. 

Expats lose their bid to get back $300,000 condo

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

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The retired Gringos lost round one in a criminal court case.  They are in shock, along with their lawyer.  They purchased a condominium in August 2001 in Flamingo.  In December 2003, the same company that sold them their condominium sold it again without their knowledge to another party.  Shortly thereafter, a court evicted them and sent all their belongings to storage in San José.  They have fought over four years just to get a court hearing of their case.

The trial lasted almost two weeks.  The evidence supporting the double sale was overwhelming.  The court agreed.  The original owner of the property, a corporation, sold it twice, but the officers are not guilty.   How is this possible?  How can one sell something twice and not be guilty?

This is how:

Getting haled into court seems to be optional here

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

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Getting someone to show up for court in a criminal investigation is a Mickey Mouse game of hide-and-seek in Costa Rica.  Good people usually obey the law, whereas bad ones do not.  The whole process is another reason criminals get away with their illicit acts in this country.  Getting witnesses to show up for a trial is even harder if they want to avoid appearing.

Expat couple fought for five years to get day in court

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

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A retired expat couple came back to Costa Rica last week to fight for their rights.  They say they are fighting to get back their beautiful ocean view condominium taken from them over five years ago.  The people who got the condo were experienced in their game, and the retired couple honest and unsuspecting.

This criminal court case paints a classic Costa Rica property swindle scenario.  The expat couple came to Costa Rica to search for a retirement home near the beach to enjoy their lives after many years of hard work and saving a retirement fund.  They trusted the people they met, including the attorneys they hired to look out for their interest.  They invested about $300,000.

Employers are getting pounded in labor court cases

By: Garland M. Baker B.
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Employers are suffering heavy losses in their labor court battles with employees.  Judges are also clobbering employers with hefty awards to the employees to serve as a warning to bosses to stay out of court.  

In one labor case, a court decree Friday surprised a retired couple. A judge ordered them to pay thousands of dollars to a guard service. The judge ruled that the proprietor of the service really was an employee and not an independent contractor.   The homeowners have contracts between themselves and the guard firm to prove otherwise, but the judge discarded the documents as rubbish.

The many ways to lose an employee without paying

By: Garland M. Baker B.

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Digging deeper into the three-letter rule to fire an employee in Costa Rica turned up something interesting.  There is no three-letter rule.  Giving two warning letters and then a final firing letter is only a custom in this country, not the law.  

Actually, writing a letter to the employee is also a custom, not the law.  The following analysis expands on the information written in the articles “Being too nice can backfire on any employer” and “Employers are getting pounded in labor court cases.”

The Código de Trabajo or labor code Article 81 refers to “causes for firing an employee” but does not refer to a warning anywhere except for in Section i. This section states the following: “when a worker, after an employer’s first warning, commits another fault described in Article 72, Sections a), b), c), d) and e) the act is sufficient for dismissal.”   

Here is a gist of the content of those sections:

Expat landlords need to know the rules of the game

By: Garland M. Baker B.

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Expats in Costa Rica who rent to others need to know the law and the important exceptions.  Property owners also need to know that the law is not the same for all kinds of property.  Many expats prefer not to rent to Costa Ricans because they fear the local rental law due to their lack of knowledge or language ability.

On the coast, expats rent very short term — daily, weekly, and occasionally monthly — to vacationers coming to the country.  Usually, they collect their rental fees in their home country or online over the Internet.  Some do not declare the money they collect here nor elsewhere.   This scenario is a nice source of income for many and for those who do not report the income, tax-free money — at least tax-free until they are caught.  

Some expats who live here temporarily rent their homes to others when they travel for extended periods.  Typically, they use a rental agent who takes care of the monthly bills and finds short-term renters for a commission.  Today, that commission averages about 20 percent of the gross rental revenue.  Many of the expats who fall in this group do not report the income they receive either.

Often, the people who fall in these two categories do not mess around with contracts.  Article 7 of the rental law excludes the short-term vacation rentals from the usual rules.  Rental laws do apply to the second scenario, even though people rent short-term — less than three years — to other foreigners all the time and just trust the renters will honor agreements.  However, it is important to note, a renter in this case can call foul and stay the legally mandated three years with the full support of the law.

Many foreigners build rental units for the exclusive purpose of renting to other foreigners and in rare cases to local people.  They are concerned someone will get into their property and not leave.  Here are the facts:

The Banco Hipotecario de la Vivienda, the “housing mortgage bank,” each year determines the threshold for de interés social, so-called “social interest” property.  This year the amount is 24,610,000 colons.  At today’s ever decreasing exchange rate of 492 colons to a U.S. dollar, this translates to a little over $50,000.   Yes, any dwelling worth $50,000 or less is social interest property, and the law treats this kind of property differently than homes worth more than $50,000.  Land value is included.

Here is a list of tenant rights for a house declared of social interest:  1.) A renter cannot be forced to pay any more than one month's deposit, and the deposit cannot be higher than one month's rent. 2.) A tenant can always stop an eviction process by depositing the amount owed in court. 3.) When a rental contract ends, a property owner cannot force out a tenant unless the property owner or the property owner’s immediate family is going to move into the dwelling or the property owner intends to demolish the construction to build a new home worth at least five times more than the existing construction.

In the case where a tenant is evicted unjustly — for example, a property owner lies about who moved into the home or does not build another one — a tenant can get the property back. As well as, get one year of rent as damages.

In the case of an eviction and the renter cannot pay, the person can always play sick or come up with other flaky excuses to postpone eviction.  One older woman, some years back, delayed her eviction for several years.

Property of social interest only applies to houses, condominiums, or apartments.  The term does not apply to businesses or offices.

Renting property considered of social interest to anyone is full of pitfalls. And that is why many expats decline to rent to Costa Ricans.  Article 74 of the rental law is another interesting exception, and one that really works for expats looking for an additional income.  The article exempts up to two apartments or office units built on a property owner’s lot that share a common entrance or a common area from the normal three-year rental contract term.  A property owner only needs to give a 30-day notice to a renter to leave.  Social interest property does not apply in this case.

There are other exceptions to the rental law, all covered by Article 7 where the mandatory three-year rental term does not apply: short-term rentals in tourist areas, temporary spaces rented for events, parking and vehicle storage areas, areas rented for outdoor advertising, dwellings rented to guards or people watching a property, and houses lent to someone where there is no remuneration.

There are two types of eviction processes in Costa Rica: a judicial process, meaning a case in court, and an administrative process.  

In every judicial process, there are certain documents required to continue the case.  The most important of which is an appraisal of the property by an engineer or architect to determine if the property is social interest property.  If it is not, an eviction can move along quickly.  In Costa Rica, this means it may take less than a year.   

Occasionally, a tenant can use the owner's own estimate of value that has been filed with the municipality to have the property considered of social interest. Owners frequently low-ball values to reduce their municipal taxes. A fake statement of value filed when property is purchased also can come back and bite the owner.

Administrative processes apply to renters covered by one of the exceptions.  For example, a tenant does not want to move out of an apartment considered Article 74 exception as explained above or even a hotel room.  In this case, one must file a complaint at the security ministry in San José, and a department of this ministry decides if the police should toss out the renters.

When renting, it is important to know to whom one is renting.  Despite the fears of renting to Costa Ricans, many times foreigners can be the worst renters because some of them are crooks elsewhere.  Expats should check references and credit before renting to anyone.

Article first published in A.M. Costa Rica on April 7, 2008. 

Time is approaching to file that pesky cultural tax

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

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Here is a yearly reminder.  Education and culture taxes — Timbre de Educación y Cultura — are due next Monday, March 31.

Many people, including professionals, sluff off filing form D.110 and paying these taxes.  However, paying them is required by Ley 5923, and every company in Costa Rica listed at the Registro Nacional is required to pay this tax.  A company’s net capital amount determines the tax to be paid.

The tax amounted to quite a bit of money in 1976, the year the general assembly enacted the law.  Today, the amount is almost insignificant and is a nuisance tax to most.

A ray of hope for those collecting on bum mortgages

By: Garland M. Baker B.

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Remember the days of skyrocketing real estate prices in Costa Rica?  People thought then there was no end in sight — no limit on how high a piece of dirt could go.  Real estate in the United States was crazy, too.  Doomsayers here and there were friendless. No one would listen to their tales of a looming crisis.

Everyone knows now that the doomsayers were correct.  The bubble burst.  Some of those who bought properties in Costa Rica are now hurting back home.  As predicted, they cannot pay their obligations there or here.  Adjustable rate mortgages were the devil's work, fueling the subprime mess.

Expats risk half their assets with lengthy love nest

By: Garland M. Baker B.

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This is how to trap an expat into marriage, a big payoff or a lifetime of alimony payments.  It is not just a woman’s guide, but as public service to men and even expat women to save them from themselves in Costa Rica.

Trusts are a perfect vehicle for getting deals done

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

Editor's Note: While this article was accurate at the time of publication, some information may now be outdated. We are currently preparing a comprehensive update. Sign up for our Alerts to be notified as soon as the revised content is live!

Trusts can save the day in numerous instances in Costa Rica and avoid lawsuits or arbitration.  In cases where litigation has already started, using a trust is a great way to get out of court.  Most large development projects in Costa Rica — and small ones too — use trusts as the financial vehicle of choice.  Literally, the possible uses of a trust are only limited to the imagination of the creators.

Most people — especially expats — think of trusts as they do wills. They are legal documents full of mumbo jumbo to take care of beneficiaries after one's death.  Trusts are much more than this here. They are dynamic legal instruments with many uses.

Here is a quick course.  Once taken, pass it on to your legal professional.  Most Costa Rican attorneys and notaries do not have a clue how to use a trust in this country.

IRS winning friends among local bank officials

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

Editor's Note: While this article was accurate at the time of publication, some information may now be outdated. We are currently preparing a comprehensive update. Sign up for our Alerts to be notified as soon as the revised content is live!

The sign of things to come: Banco Cuscatlan now requires citizens or resident aliens of the United States to fill out a W9 form for personal accounts at the firm's banks in Costa Rica.

Why?  Because, Citigroup bought Grupo Cuscatlan from Corporación UBC Internacional S.A. for $1.51 billion in cash and stock. Grupo Cuscatlan has operations in El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras and Panamá.  

From dream home to kindling Hint of things to come

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

Editor's Note: While this article was accurate at the time of publication, some information may now be outdated. We are currently preparing a comprehensive update. Sign up for our Alerts to be notified as soon as the revised content is live!

If they have property in the maritime zone, expats can look forward to a hard time this year from municipalities up and down the coasts.  If that is not enough stress for 2008, the Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía will be in line to add more tension.   Some expats may be losing their comfy beach houses if they are located in the wrong places.