Author: Botho Steinvorth
Founding Partner – LatinAlliance Costa Rica
This month of September 2019, Law No. 9416, called the "Law against Tax Fraud" came into force in Costa Rica, with which the creation of the "Registry of Transparency and Final Beneficiaries" or also known as Shareholders Registry is implemented.
With this, ALL corporations, limited liability companies, trusts, among other legal entities and whether they are active or inactive, are required to declare their shareholders, participants and final beneficiaries before the Central Bank every year.
For this procedure it is necessary to use a digital signature by the legal representative of the company, or it can also be done through a legal power of attorney through a notary to allow another person to do it on your behalf.
The process is done online through the site: Central Direct of the Central Bank of Costa Rica.
The first declaration corresponding to the year 2019 will be made gradually according to the last digits of the legal certificate, remaining as follows:
| Last digit of the legal ID | Month in which you must make the declaration |
| 0 and 1 | September 2019 |
| 2 and 3 | October 2019 |
| 4 and 5 | November 2019 |
| 6 and 7 | December 2019 |
| 8 and 9 | January 2020 |
Once the year 2019 has been declared, it must be submitted again in April of each year.
The penalty for not registering on time ranges from ₡1.338.600 to ₡44.620.000, and additional penalties such as NOT issuing legal status.
That is why it is very important that you know the status of your companies, and if you require any previous changes, make them in time before issuing the declaration.
We recommend you to register your company in time to avoid sanctions, and even more important that it may become inoperative if you do not meet the requirement.
If you need to carry out the process, grant powers, verify the status of your legal books and legal advice in general, we have notaries and corporate lawyers with extensive experience to support you in the best way.
You can contact our legal team in Costa Rica by phone: (506)4052-6070 email: info@latinalliancecr.com