Sociedad Anónima S.A.Costa Rica
What it takes to form, own and run a public limited company in Costa Rica, and how its profit is taxed. Each figure links to the page it was read from.
This company type
At a glance
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En la sociedad anónima, el capital social estará dividido en acciones y los socios sólo se obligan al pago de sus aportaciones.
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Comparecencia de al menos dos socios constituyentes (Art. 104 C. Comercio, Directriz DPJ- 004-2023
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La Sociedad Anónima es administrada por una Junta Directiva, mínimo 3 miembros (presidente, secretario y tesorero).
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La formación de una sociedad anónima requerirá: a) Que haya dos socios como mínimo y que cada uno de ellos suscriba por lo menos una acción; b) Que del valor de cada una de las acciones suscritas a cubrir en efectivo, quede pagado cuando menos el veinticinco por ciento en el acto de la constitución;
Form it
Who registers it
- Registry
- Formed without visiting
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- Formed online
- Yes
What it takes to form
- A notary
- Required
- A resident director
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- Paying up the capital
- Capital represented by common shares (preferred shares possible); national or foreign currency. Amount, subscription, form of payment and payment deadline are stated in the deed.
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En la Sociedad Anónima el capital está representado por acciones comunes. Pueden existir acciones preferentes. Moneda nacional o extranjera.
Own it
Who may own and run it
- Directors
- At least 3
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La Sociedad Anónima es administrada por una Junta Directiva, mínimo 3 miembros (presidente, secretario y tesorero).
- Shareholders
- At least 2
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Comparecencia de al menos dos socios constituyentes (Art. 104 C. Comercio, Directriz DPJ- 004-2023
- Members
- At least 2
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Comparecencia de al menos dos socios constituyentes (Art. 104 C. Comercio, Directriz DPJ- 004-2023
- A local company secretary
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- A local registered agent
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
Each year, at the registry
- Annual registry fee
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- Accounts on the public record
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- Audit for a small company
- Not required
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El sistema de vigilancia de las sociedades anónimas será potestativo y se hará constar en la escritura social.
- Audit
- Not in our records
Important dates
When each obligation falls due, as the authority states it.
- Publish an extract of the incorporation deed in La Gaceta before registration
- Not in our records
With Imprenta Nacional (La Gaceta)
Not stated on rnpdigital.com/centroinforegistral/registros/personas when checked
What is public
Not in our records What the register shows the public is not in our records for the S.A..
Tax
Tax on profit
How this company type is taxed, which can differ from its place’s headline rate.
Varies · 30%+1 regime
Legal persons pay 30% on net income (Income Tax Law 7092 art. 15 a); legal persons whose gross income does not exceed CRC 119,629,000 in the fiscal period pay graduated rates starting at 5% (art. 15 b). All legal persons are taxpayers (art. 2 a).
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a) Personas jurídicas: Treinta por ciento (30%).
Special regimes that may apply
- Régimen de zonas francas free zone · 100% exempt
Companies admitted to the free zone regime, with the level of relief differentiated by whether they are located inside or outside the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) Ley 7210, Ley de Régimen de Zonas Francas, artículo 20
Whether a company qualifies depends on its activity and conditions set in each statute.
- CFC rules in Costa Rica
- Not in our records
Close it
Closing it
The other end, which most guides leave out.
- Route
- Dissolution on the causes in the Commercial Code, with liquidators appointed; may be re-registered where the cause is expiry of the term or three consecutive unpaid periods of the legal-entities tax (Ley 9428).
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Se podrá disolver por las causas contenidas en el Código de Comercio, en cuyo caso se procederá al nombramiento de uno o varios liquidadores
- Statutory fee
- Not in our records
Every business in Costa Rica
VAT
- Standard rate
- 13%
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La tarifa del impuesto es del trece por ciento (13%) para todas las operaciones sujetas al pago del impuesto
- Other rates
- 4% Air tickets to or from Costa Rica (tax on 10% of the value for international flights); private health services
- 2% Authorised medicines and their inputs and machinery; private education (except exempt higher education); personal insurance premiums; purchases and sales by state higher-education bodies and other listed state institutions
- 1% Basic-basket goods (as set by executive decree) and agricultural goods in the basket, with the machinery, inputs and services needed to produce them
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Del cuatro por ciento (4%) para los siguientes bienes o servicios: a. La compra de boletos o pasajes aéreos
- Registration threshold
- No threshold: from the first taxable supply
no turnover threshold: art. 5 requires every taxpayer under art. 4 to register on starting taxable activities, and registers non-registrants ex officio
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Al iniciar sus actividades gravadas, las personas o las entidades a las que se refiere el artículo anterior deben inscribirse en el registro de contribuyentes que deberá llevar la Administración Tributaria.
- A foreign company
- See the note
Under art. 4 of the VAT Act the recipient pays the tax on services and intangibles bought from a supplier not domiciled in Costa Rica when the recipient is a taxpayer, and art. 30 provides collection through intermediaries and card issuers on consumer purchases; the Act states no registration, threshold or representative rule for a non-resident supplier.
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En el caso de la compra de servicios o de bienes intangibles, cuyo prestador no se encuentre domiciliado en el territorio de la República, el contribuyente será el destinatario del servicio o el bien intangible
- Returns filed
- Monthly
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deben liquidar el impuesto a más tardar el decimoquinto día natural de cada mes, mediante declaración jurada de las ventas de bienes o prestación de servicios correspondientes al mes anterior.
- Tax authority
- Ministerio de Hacienda (Dirección General de Tributación), Costa Rica
Payment and banking services
1 service names Costa Rica on its own list: Airwallex. Each provider, and what a listing means.
Reference
Its name and code
- Kind
- Public limited companyDerived our grouping, the same words in every country
- Name in law
- Sociedad Anónima (S.A.)
- ISO 20275 code
- YOIWSecondary GLEIF, Entity Legal Forms code list