Last year, on January 22, 2021, the Costa Rica Tax office announced the resolution DGT-R-02-2021, which modified the previous resolution DGT-R-075-2019. 

This latest resolution ratified that the “inactive corporations” are required to: 

1. Register with the “Ministerio de Hacienda” in the Single Tax Registry (RUT) under code number 960113
   and 
2. Submit annual tax returns of their assets, liability, and shared capital.  

In the past, only active corporations — meaning those producing income — had a filing obligation with the Tax Office.  

The definition of an inactive corporation is “…those companies incorporated in the country that do not have lucrative, income producing, activity of a Costa Rican source.” The definition includes all commercial companies, branches of foreign companies, and individual limited liability companies.

Effective January 1, 2022, following the resolution noted above, all inactive corporations will need to file the Simplified Income Tax Return (Form D-101) for fiscal years 2020 and 2021.  

To comply and avoid heavy fines, inactive corporations must file D-101 before March 15, 2022.

There are two steps required:

1. File form D-140 “Declaración de Inscripción en el Registro Único Tributario“ via the Virtual Tax Administration (ATV), available on the website www.hacienda.go.cr. This form covers information such as the legal representative, address data, contact information, etc.

1. File the “simplified income tax return form D101” via ATV. The information regarding assets, liabilities, and equity is simplified from the version for active corporations. It will be necessary to have formal accounting to support the reported amounts and information. 

NOTE:

The process to file and submit the tax forms is through the Tax Department’s online Virtual Tax Administration portal called ATV. The only way to have an account with ATV is if the taxpayer:

1. Has a CR identification card or residency card
   
   or
2. Applies for a taxpayer identification number (NITE)

 and has a CR digital signature card, “firma digital”.  

If for any reason you cannot get access to ATV, then you must have an authorized person or accountant access the account to file the forms on behalf of the corporation.

The corporate books should be updated with the same information that will be declared on the tax forms to reflect all agreements related to the corporation balance, assets, liabilities, and equity value.   

Deadlines

The first filing for the “inactive corporations” will be no later than March 15, 2022. 

The details of this law can be complex, and we are here to answer any questions you may have. Please feel free to contact us at info@gmattorneyscr.com

See this article in the magazine