Have you ever read that the police sent out letters or placed classified ads offering some phony promotion to catch criminals or parking ticket violators? This year Costa Rica’s tax form D-175 is a sting operation of sorts, too.
For many years, in fact since the beginning of transferring property began in Costa Rica, a company could be created and a property could be placed in that company so when the property was sold again, only the company needed to be signed over to the new owner. The sale could be done rapidly and without payment of trasnfer taxes. This kind of company is referred to as an inmobiliaria or a company holding real estate.
However, very few of these entities ever signed up with the tax department, the Tributación Directa. There are an estimated 308,000 companies listed at the Registro Nacional, the national registry. But a far fewer number are listed with the tax department, and the country wants to fix this anomaly so it will be able to collect more taxes in the future.