The Costa Rican Ministry of Finance sent a reminder to all business owners that Monday, October 2 was the deadline for paying this year’s portion of the annual corporation tax that went into effect Sept. 1, 2017.

Anyone with an active and inactive registered business. also known as an “S.A.”, in Costa Rica should have paid by Monday, Oct. 2 the tax amount corresponding to the months of September, October, November and December 2017, said the ministry. Because the Sept. 30 deadline to pay this amount fell over the weekend, the date was moved to Monday.

Payments can be made through bank websites, or directly in authorized banks and entities, and should indicate the legal entity’s identification number for which the payment is being made.

The authorized collecting agencies are the following:
Bac San José, Banco de Costa Rica, BCT Bank, DaVivienda, Banco Nacional, Grupo Mutual Alajuela, Teledólar, Costa Rican Red Cross, Ekono Shops, and Servimás pay centers/booths.

Penalties for late or non-payment include late fees and penalties, and could eventually lead to losing one’s business.

Businesses that have pending payments of the tax corresponding to previous years when the tax was active must make those payments directly at the National Registry before making new payments, explained the ministry.

The resources derived from this tax are to provide revenue for the Ministry of Public Security to finance police stations, purchase and maintain police equipment, provide patrols for citizen security and to combat crime. The tax revenue also provides financing for the Ministry of Justice and Peace’s social adaptation program for criminals; and for the Judiciary to finance the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) for investigating crimes.

And, once again in January, entities will have until the end of January 2018 to pay the amount due for the 2018 calendar year.