Costa Rica Tourism Tax

[omegaet]

...just noticed Costa Rica has approved a new $15.00 flat"tourism tax" to replace the old 3% hotel room tax. Apparently, some hotels had avoided "enforcement" of the 3% tax in the past. The government now estimates they will be able to generate an additional $25M, up about $15M over the previous room tax.



So, If you're headed down to CR sometime around the end of Dec or early Jan, plan on shelled out an additional fee!

[Mountie]

-O-, this sounds like a reduction in thetourism tax for Costa Rica, at least according to the information you posted 08-02-2008:



http://community.luxurylink.com/luxurylink/board/message?board.id=board-general&message.id=6996&query.id=149393#M6996

[thepiranha]

Mountie, the $15 tourism tax is added to the cost of airplane tickets to Costa Rica sold outside of the country. There is still a departure tax of $26. In other words, they get you coming and going.

The only way that the $15 tourism tax will be a cost reduction for tourists is if the tourists would have normally paid the 3% hotel tax, which has been removed. Apparently, many hotels were not charging hotel tax and the government was losing millions of dollars. It's easier for them to put a flat $15 tax on plane tickets than to monitor the hotels.

[omegaet]

......sorry about that, I guess I should have posted the source of the information:

Legislature gives final OK to $15 tourist head tax

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Legislators passed for the second and final time Thursday a $15 tax on every air ticket to Costa Rica purchased outside the national borders.

The same vote also results in eliminating a 3 percent tourism tax on hotels and other temporary housing vendors.

The money is supposed to be used for promotion, marketing, planning and sustainable development, although such terms are not clearly defined.

The money collected will go to the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo and will not be allocated in the budget nor will it be subject to attachment by the central government.

All of the 43 legislators present voted for the measure, which now goes to President scar Arias Snchez, who almost certainly will sign it.

The tourism institute, in a prepared statement, said that the annual income anticipated from the new tax would be about $25 million. The hotel tax now brings in about $10 million.
The minister of Turismo, Carlos Ricardo Benavides, had complained that not every tourist was staying in a hotel. Some were staying in unregistered locations. He also suggested that hotel owners were not turning over all the money collected to his institute. Of course, some visitors stay in their own homes or condos.

Under the new tax, not just tourists will pay. The $15 will be levied on every air ticket that is not sold in Costa Rica regardless of the motive for travel. Costa Rica now has a 5 percent tax on air tickets sold domestically. Officials also complained that residents were buying tickets in other Central American countries to avoid the tax.

Benavides was quoted as saying that the nation still will remain competitive because other Central American countries also levied taxes used for promotion. Tourists also pay a $26 exit tax.

The tourism institute is embarking on a major promotional drive. Some of its spending has been lavish, like the $4.5 million invested to show off Costa Rica at the last World Cup matches. This also is the agency that paid $833,000 for a web page.

[jsattapr2]

mountie and all, this just looks and sounds like a greedy move by the government of Costa Rica to line their pockets. I'm sure LL will provide us with alternative vacation opportunities to other Central and SouthAmerican countries who choose not to extract such high fees.

[kyshel]

from what I can locate in our previous travel records is that in addition to the US fees we impose on a ticket (security,etc--typically around $17) our tickets had Costa Rica Common Area fee of $3.34 (charged on departure ticket) plus the $1.19 CR Security Fee (upon landing). We paid at the airport for additional departure tax not included on the ticket. Our hotel bill had all taxes included in price/day so we never saw the 3% applied.

I saw some of the new increased taxes on other international destinations--don't think CR is the only one!

Jordan--$14 in Sept plus another $28 Nov
Netherlands--$59 additional to previous fees
Neth Antilles now has $32 fee added except St. Martin
Mexico Destinations typically $45+
UK--still a smidge under $100 [today] +
Martinique adds $32 this year + and so on...there are so many, and they update my list best as possible once a month

Some of the lowest "added fees/charges" destinations:
Kiev
Spain
Most of Italy
Dubai!!
Argentina EZE
Bucharest
Narita, Japan
Lisbon
Istanbul
Helsinki
Shanghai
Moscow
Tel Aviv (of course, some of these destinations have hefty visa fees)
Just some fees for thought...

[thepiranha]

Julian, I don't think that the Costa Rican government is being greedy. For years, there was a 3% hotel tax that either wasn't being collected, or was being collected and pocketed by the hotels. With the new regulations, the government has abolished that hotel tax and implemented a $15 flat fee to fly into the country. In some situations, tourists will actually be saving money. Since 3% of $500 is $15, if your accommodations cost more than $500 and you would have been paying a 3% hotel tax, paying the one time $15 fee is cheaper than paying the hotel tax. Not all fees are ripoffs.