Getting a Costa Rica Gambling License. Let’s get one thing straight: there is no such thing as a gaming or gambling license in Costa Rica. If an online gaming firm wants to base their operations in the country, they only need to do the following: Buy a business license for $5,000 (which can be renewed annually for an additional $5,000). Costa Rica is another Central American country where gambling is controlled and, moreover, favoured. Nevertheless, this country’s certificate is not counted as reputable in the global gambling industry. The major reason for that is the fact that even licensed operators’ activity is barely controlled, thus leaving players unprotected. What do you know about Costa Rica as an online gambling licence provider? All the important information about Costa Rica licensing. Costa Rica online gambling license is one of the most profitable. There are currently several hundred online casinos licensed by Costa Rica all over the globe, although no legislative framework was developed to regulate online gambling.

Costa Rica is a rugged, rainforested Central American country with coastlines on the Caribbean and Pacific. Though its capital, San Jose, is home to cultural institutions like the Pre-Columbian Gold Museum, Costa Rica is known for its beaches, volcanoes and immense biodiversity. Roughly a quarter of its area is made up of protected jungle, rich with wildlife including spider monkeys and quetzal birds.

Taxes

• Corporate Tax: TBA
• Gambling Tax: TBA

Who manages E-Gambling in Costa Rica?

Online Gambling Companies are self-regulated. Because there is no official organization to recognize license holders, there is no betting or gaming tax.

Overview

Due to the lack of legislation and oversight for online gambling, companies based in or registered through Costa Rica are not subject to monitoring or other regulations that many offshore companies are. This also means that since there isn’t a body to govern gambling, companies are self-regulated and aren’t required to pay betting or gaming tax.

Costa Rica is a popular place to establish online gaming business. Although there is no specific gambling license for gaming activities, corporation may execute online gambling or online casino activities under a “data processing license”. To obtain this license the corporation must have a physical location in Costa Rica.

The license indicates only that the company is able to process data. This is so because there is no specific gambling license in Costa Rica, so all corporations that conduct gambling activities use this “data processing license” or most recently some of them operate using a “marketing license”.

In order to obtain a license in Costa Rica the company must have an office in Costa Rica.

There are two gambling license options:

1. Permanent: This option is used when you need to keep the license permanently up to date. In this case the leasing of the office should be paid annually to keep the office space.

2. Temporary: The same license as in the permanent case, but once the license is issued the client does not rent the office space anymore thus saving the expenses. The office is leased for six months only in order to obtain the license.

Minimum Share Capital for an iGaming Company:

A minimum of 25% of the issued capital must be paid up on incorporation

Licence Fee:

Licenses are only required for land-based operations; i.e. if the corporation has an office within the country.

In order to acquire a license, power of attorney authorizing Costa Rican staff to do the processing is needed. The price of a permanent license is $5,000 USD in legal fees, $500 for administrative and legal costs, $3,600 for yearly lease, and $5,000 for renewal at the end of the year. Temporary licenses are also available, costing similar amounts. Administrative and legal costs are $500, legal fees $5,000, yearly lease $1,200, and a $2,000 renewal fee at the end of the year.

Licence Length:

One year

Reporting Requirements to Regulators:

Costa Rica does not employ a body which oversees the online gambling operations in business there. As a result, there is no regulatory authority, neither is there any third party for players to turn to, should they encounter a problem with one of the casinos based there

Anti-Money Laundering Policy:

All operators must comply with AML legislation in force

Contact Details:

Costa Rica Commerce

Industry and Economy Ministry
Edificio del IFAM
San Jose
Costa Rica 10216-1000
Telephone: +506 235 2700
Website: www.meic.go.cr
Email: uie AT meic.go.cr

Online casinos licensed in Costa Rica

10xaction.com
123 Vegas Win
123Bingo Online
1S Poker
1Spin.com
21 Dukes
3PigsCasino
5Dimes Casino and Sportsbook
724Sports.com
777 Kazino
7Reels Casino
7Spins
95fun.com
ABC Islands Casino and Sportsbook
Ace Live Casino

For more information:

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FURTHER INFORMATION ON CURACAO GAMBLING LICENSES

We wrote an article on Curacao Gambling License which may be of interest to you should you be looking for alternative casino licensing information.

Costa Rica jurisdiction

Costa Rica is considered to be one of the most beneficial jurisdictions for online casinos to acquire the gambling license due to a whole range of advantages.

It stands out because of the lack of legislation regulating gambling activities. The Costa Rica online gambling license doesn’t exist, as the legal permission is called 'data processing license', and is issued by regional municipalities, and not by a designated authority.

Nevertheless, Costa Rica is a very popular country for running a gambling business, as far as one license covers all types of gambling activities: slot machines, card games, and table games.

However, online casino servers can be located anywhere except for Costa Rica. Local people cannot play in gambling establishments, meaning that owners can accept bets only from foreign citizens.

Do not miss:Gambling License in Curacao

Main requirements for Costa Rica online gambling license 2020

According to the procedure of gambling license acquisition, it is important to follow these conditions:

Gambling License Costa Rica Vacation Packages

• a gambling company must be registered in Costa Rica;
• company office must be located on the territory of Costa Rica;
• there must be 2 founders who can be residents or foreigners;
• a company should have a minimal amount of registered capital from $100 to $100 000;
• a company should have a bank account (can be opened in any country).

As for the documents to get a Costa Rica gaming license, a company should provide:

• application form with all necessary company details and characteristics of all founders;
• founders’ passport copies;
• a copy of company registration document;
• сopy of the minutes of the meeting, when it was decided to register a company and appoint directors;
• a copy of company’s documents;
• paid utility bills;
• detailed business plan with calculations of future incomes.

Gaming License Costa Rica

Costa Rica’s gambling license costs and taxation

On average, the license acquisition process in Costa Rica lasts around 3 months. Also, the license should be renewed every 3 months.

As for the corporation tax rate, only that proportion of business revenue earned within Costa Rica is subject to an assessment by the tax authorities. There is no additional gaming tax.

It is important to note that the Ministry of Finance has released a draft planning to introduce the license annual fee of $50,000. The proposal also includes a 0.5% tax on gross income and a 5% tax to combat any criminal activity associated with gambling.

Advantages of online gambling license in Costa Rica

Costa Rica jurisdiction has a range of advantages, making it one of the most profitable countries for running a business:

• political and economic stability;
• no need to allocate servers in Costa Rica;
• a bank account can be opened in any country;
• no taxes for companies that run a business overseas;
• fast and simple company registration;
• all nationalities accepted as directors or owners;
• relatively low costs and fees.

Gambling License Costa Rica

The process of preparing necessary documents may take a long time. It is possible to make the procedure easier and faster with Slotegrator as the company offers assistance in obtaining a gaming license by dealing with legal issues.