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Costa Rica
Address
Costa Rica Commerce, Industry and Economy Ministry Edificio del IFAM San Jose, San José Costa Rica 10216-1000 Website Fax +506 2 367 281 General Information +506 2 352 700 View All Gaming Jurisdictions Costa Rica Jurisdiction News
Costa Rica, Antigua file for WTO arbitration
Costa Rica and Antigua separately filed for World Trade Organization arbitration on January 28, seeking compensation from the United States as a result of the U.S. withdrawal of its commitment on cross-border gambling services. U.S. faces seven compensation claims in WTO online gambling case Casino City has confirmed that seven compensation claims have been filed against the U.S. in its ongoing WTO online gambling case with Antigua and Barbuda. What Happens in Costa Rica Stays in Costa Rica As I have stated in the past, the fabulous "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" phrase applies to Costa Rica visits and even to the Grinkos, Canadians and Swedes that live there. I cannot even tell you the number of times a statement was preceded with, "This is off the record, but...", and the number of times that I was forbidden to share any of my stories with Jenny (I know! I don't get it either!). See why this was my seventh trip to Costa Rica in 1.5 years? Now you get it, don't you... Rebecca's Recommendations - May 25, 2007 So here we go again. I'm going back to Costa Rica for Memorial Day weekend, and I know what you are thinking…What? Are you kidding? Why? Do you ever work? Where's Jenny? The truth is I absolutely love Costa Rica and all my online gaming contacts that live there. Oh yes, and the whore houses too. This time around I am going for fun, on my own dime, and with zero conferences to attend, thank god. Of course I'll be with online gaming friends and talking business roughly 90% of the time, but what can you do. |
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Costa RicaWhile the Central American country Costa Rica is home to more than 200 online gambling companies, it does not actually have legislation specifically designed to deal with gambling over the Internet. The Costa Rican government is of the opinion that the act of wagering does not take place at the location of the operator's gaming servers, so companies residing in the country are able to legally offer Internet wagers to customers all over the world as long as they refuse to accept wagers from individuals located in Costa Rica. Because of the absence of legislation dealing with online gambling, the businesses and operations of Costa Rica-based gaming companies are not subject to the regulations, monitoring, and testing to which most offshore governments subject their licensees. Most companies are self-regulated. Because there is no official regime to recognize license holders, there is no betting or gaming tax. Instead, companies operate under a "data processing" license. In September 2007, the Partido Accion Ciudadana introduced a bill that would tax sportsbooks and other electronic betting operations based on the number of employees on their payroll. The annual tax begins at firms with 10 employees with a fee of 10 million colons a year and reaches the top of the scale with a tax of 28.4 million colons for companies with more than 61 employees. In August of 2009, the finance ministry plans to present a bill to the legislature that will regulate online casino operations located there. The bill would introduce a tax on online casino operators within the country. This proposal is the latest in what has been a long and mostly fruitless attempt on the part of the government to tax the betting industry. The Arias administration is also seeking to set a licensing scheme in place that would require online casinos and sportsbooks to register with the Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Comercio. 220 Costa Rica sites support English. edit your preferences
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