Companies

Casa Canada currently administers hundreds of companies, in many cases including complete accounting, tax calculations and payment, bill paying, income collection and all other services related to company management.

Casa Canada Group provides offices, officers and administration of client companies, ensuring that all legal, administrative and taxation requirements of the company are met.

A. BANKING

1. Opening and operating international or Costa Rican bank accounts
2. Monthly reconciliation of client bank statements
3. Making deposits, writing cheques, making wire transfers
4. Automatic payment of client invoices or bills
5. Transfer of funds for debit card accounts

B. CORPORATE SERVICES

1. Incorporation of Costa Rican. This service includes:

• Consultation
• Company cédula or identification card.
• Name searches
• Provision and issue of shares
• Provision of Costa Rican legal minute books
• Provision of Costa Rican legal accounting books
• Provision of Costa Rican shareholder register book
• All legal fees.
• All registration fees.
• Payment of minimum capital.

2. Maintenance of Costa Rican. Additional fees may apply for some services.

• Provision of a registered office.
• Provision of mail, email and fax addresses.
• Provision of a fiscal (controller) for a Costa Rican company.
• Forwarding of any legal notices served on the company.
• Annual filing of corporate capital tax and educational stamp tax and reports.
• Annual filing of income tax return and reports.
• Paying quarterly payments of Income Tax as required.
• Maintaining legal books for minutes and shareholder registers.
• Updating legal accounting books quarterly as required by Costa Rican law.

3. Full accounting services including the preparation of monthly financial statements.

4. Supervision of client owned companies operating in Costa Rica.

5. Provision of nominee shareholders and directors for Costa Rican to allow for total privacy of ownership.

6. Preparation and filing of annual income tax reports, and payment of taxes due. Where required, quarterly tax submissions would be filed.  Clients would be advised on tax planning.

C. INCORPORATION OF A COSTA RICAN COMPANY

1. NAME – The name can be in either English or Spanish in Costa Rica. Country names cannot be part of the name of a company in Costa Rica.

2. COST – The cost of a corporation is nine hundred fifty ($US 950.00) US dollars for the first company, and seven hundred fifty ($US 750.00) for additional companies for the same client. Fees include:

• Consulting
• Legal fees
• Registration costs
• Cédula Juridica (Legal identification card for Costa Rica) or certificate of incorporation for belize.
• Costa Rican legal minute books
• Costa Rican legal accounting books
• Costa Rican shareholder register book

3. ADMINISTRATION CHARGES – paid annually in advance

* Administration in Costa Rica – $US 300 (Not including Costa Rican corporation tax)

• includes registered office
• updating accounting books
• annual filing (but not preparation of taxes or financial statements
• dealing with legal notifications and other administrative functions as required.

* Where income taxes must be paid (usually 10% of the net profit) the charge is an additional $150.

• Includes making quarterly payments the following year for estimated taxes as required by law
• Annual tax filing with Costa Rican style financial statements
• English style monthly financial statements

* Nominee Shareholders and Directors - $400 in Costa Rica

• Where complete confidentiality is desired Casa Canada will provide shareholders and officers required for the company. Two shareholders,
  a President, Treasurer, Secretary and Fiscal are needed for a Costa Rican company

4. Incorporation Time

• Casa Canada usually has companies incorporated available for immediate use. These companies are new, and have never been active in any way. They have very broad objects of incorporation and can do almost anything
• A specialized company will take about 30 days for registration and incorporation in Costa Rica

5. Types of Corporation There are two principal types of limited liability companies available under Costa Rican law as shown below.

1. Limitada

• May have a manager instead of a board of directors.
• Shares cannot be endorsed or transferred. They must be assigned. To be assigned they require approval of 75% or more of the other stockholders.
• If a person’s name is used as part of the name of a company, that person is personally liable for corporate debts to the amount of the paid up capital of the largest single stockholder.
• The Limitada form of incorporation is not recognized by the Department of Internal Revenue in the U.S. as being a limited company. Income is treated as if the stockholders were a partnership. Costa Rica treats this form of corporation as a limited liability company.

2. Sociedad Anonima (Recommended in most cases)

• Requires at least three directors – president, secretary and treasurer.
• Requires a controller, called a “fiscal”, to ensure the company abides by the laws of Costa Rica.
• There must be at least two shareholders at the time of incorporation. After incorporation, one shareholder may wholly own the company.
• Total amount of capitalization must be paid in advance of incorporation. These funds become available to the corporation after the company is incorporated. Minimum capital is 1,000 colons.

D. ADVANTAGES OF A COSTA RICAN CORPORATION

Stability – The countries are stable, and democratic. There is no chance of violent political swings or military coups, and investors in Costa Rica are protected by the constitution of the country, which is enforced by the Constitutional Court.

Secrecy – Costa Rica has laws to ensure confidentiality between client and lawyer, however the Superintendent of Financial Entities (SUGEF) has access to all information, including the beneficial owners.

Surprises– The legal and legislative system in Costa Rica prevents a government from introducing a sudden new tax or law which may be punishing to the owner of a Costa Rican corporation, or which may make an investment not viable. Retroactive legislation was totally unconstitutional in Costa Rica, although the Constitutional Court has said that in the case of taxation nonretroactivity of the law is no longer a complete guarantee.

Taxation – There are no taxes payable by a Costa Rican corporation for revenue earned outside of the country. There are no capital gains taxes, making Costa Rica an excellent country for real estate holdings, either locally or outside of the country. Real estate has a reasonable rate of appreciation due to the country’s lure as a retirement site, for the location of industrial plants, for agricultural production and for tourism.

Due to its stability many companies and institutions choose it as a location for their Central American or Latin American head offices, keeping the market for residential and commercial real estate steady. Property taxes are low compared to many countries, and corporate income taxes are relatively low as well. (See the section on taxation for details on Costa Rica taxes.)

A Costa Rica company can be ideal to maximize the confidentiality of ownership, and minimization of income taxes for investments in Costa Rica.  For individual requirements it would be best to consult with specialists at Casa Canada Group.