As informed in previous communications, the Law to Improve the Fight against Tax Fraud (Law No. 9416, effective as of December 20, 2016), establishes that legal entities and other corporate structures domiciled in Costa Rica will be obligated to provide the Costa Rica Central Bank (BCCR) on an annual basis the list of the Shareholders and Final Beneficiaries holding a 15% interest or higher, as well as the obligation to report any changes in stock ownership exceeding these percentages, a process that was originally set to begin in March 1 with those entities with corporate identity numbers ending in 0.

Due to the delays in issuing the resolution intended to clarify the scope of the obligation and issues related to the technological functionality that will be installed to comply with the registration, the Ministry of Finance announced today that the process will be postponed until September 1, 2019.

Bear in mind that this obligation applies to legal entities, private trusts and foreign trusts with activities in Costa Rica, managers of third-party funds in favor of their clients, and non-profit organizations.

As estimated by the Tax Administration, to date there are approximately 310,000 legal entities that must file the relevant information with the Registry of Transparency and Final Beneficiaries.

Should you require further assistance in this or other matters of your concern, you may contact are Corporate Law and Tax Law practice areas at your convenience.