Gambling License Costa Rica

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.

Mar 08, 2020 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. Costa Rica Gambling Company. Costa Rica to date does not have a separate gambling authority. As a result, most of the Costa Rica Gambling Licenses are issued in the form of a “Technology Company” or “Data Processing Company”. A Costa Rica Gaming License in the form of a Company Registration is mostly taken for online gaming.

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

Costa Rica Map

Gambling License Costa Rica

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