Doing Business 2020 A guide for Central America and the Dominican Republic www.pwc.com/interamericas 2 | Doing Business 2020 A guide for Costa Rica 3 Preface Foreword Central America is a region brimming with opportunities to As part of the added value that PwC Interamericas offers to learn and innovate. The strategic commercial advantages all of its clients and the business community who want to do include cheaper manufacturing costs and labor, as well as a business in the Central America and the Dominican Republic great deal of arable lands. It is a region with a continuously reegion, it is a great honor to publish the sixth edition of the growing economy, which year after year receives increasing amounts of investment and tourism, which helps it to business guide called Doing Business 2020, containing interconnect with the world. important information, which allows us to understand cultural aspects, the climate for investment, and the most important On the other hand, the Dominican Republic has a promising things to consider on legal, commercial and fiscal matters and rapidly growing economy. Despite the fact that it does not belong to Central America, its proximity to the region on the region, that we have complemented with international and the fact that we share the same language and culture, standards and the best world practices. makes it a key contributor for the region. It’s very close Current business opportunities place Central America and commercial relationship with the United States in regard to tourism, the remittances, and exportations, help keep its the Dominican Republic as a highly attractive region for economy more stable. investors from all over the world. The GDP growth rate for Marisol Arcia the last three years has been greater than the average for Edgar Mendoza The Doing Business provides the necessary information SociaTerritory Senior Senior del PartnerTerritorio the entire Latin America and the Caribbean, inflation has Partner and Regional TLS Leader and orientation about compliance, and the aspects to keep in mind to open a new company, a new branch of a multi- been moderate, favored by the dynamism of the credits national company or any other type of investment in the for the private sector. Likewise, the geographic location is region. With this publication, our purpose is to provide you advantageous, due to the ease of access to the United States with readily available information that can help you take of America, which is still the biggest economy in the world, decisions about investments in our region. and with which there is still a high volume of commercial This publication is only for general orientation purposes and activity, as well as with Europe and Asia. shall not be interpreted as a professional advice. Should you need more information, our advisors are ready to help you PwC Interamericas operates in six countries of Central individually. America and in the Dominican Republic. It offers a single contact to facilitate business and offers customized world class service, which recognize us as the first option for trusted advisors in most of the negotiations that take place in our region and in the world. It should be noted that this document was prepared as a general guideline and that its content is subject to constant changes due to the legal and economic environment of the different countries, and due to the complexity of some of the specific topics, we recommend that you are adequately supported by professionals in our team who specialize in tax, legal and regulatory matters, and who would gladly help you, taking into account the specific circumstances and situations of the subject matter. 4 | Doing Business 2020 A guide for Costa Rica 5 Costa Rica República Dominicana Costa Rica is located in Central America. Limited to the north by Nicaragua, Panama to the South, to the East La isla fue descubierta el 5 de diciembre de 1492 por by the Caribbean Sea and to the West by the Pacific Cristóbal Colón, quien la llamó La Española. Los indios Ocean. taínos, los pueblos indígenas, se vieron esclavizados Iny eventualmente many ways, the aniquilados culture of por Costa las enfermedades Rica reflects its ethnicintroducidas diversity por withlos españoles a predominantly y por los European abusos de and la Americanesclavitud. influence Bartolomé, features hermano along de Cristóbal with some Colón, Creoles fue andnombrado indigenous gobernador affinity. y en 1496 fundó Santo Domingo, la ciudad capital. La isla de La Española permaneció Costa Rica was discovered by Europeans around year bajo el dominio español hasta 1697, cuando la parte 1500 AC and became part of the Spanish empire. In occidental de la isla se convirtió en una posesión francesa. 1821, Costa Rica gained its independence from Spain En 1804 se convirtió en la República de Haití, y en 1809 and after some attempts to join the rest of Central la parte oriental de la isla regresó al dominio español. En American Countries, a union called “Federation Central” 1821, las poblaciones españolas declararon un estado declared itself as a sovereign and independent Republic independiente, pero sólo unas semanas más tarde, under the leadership of the first president José María las fuerzas haitianas invadieron la región oriental y se Castro Madriz in 1848. incorporaron Santo Domingo, conocido entonces como Saint Domingue. Para los próximos 22 años, toda la isla estuvo bajo el control de Haití. El 27 de febrero de 1844, la parte oriental de la isla declaró su independencia como la “República Dominicana”. Los próximos 70 años se caracterizaron por la inestabilidad política y la guerra civil, principalmente debido a las luchas de poder entre los dominicanos más fuertes por el control del gobierno. 6 | Doing Business 2020 A guide for Costa Rica 7 Costa Rica Chapter content 8 Overview of the country 19 Banking system Brief history. Central bank. Climate. Commercial banks. Population, form of government, language, currency. List of banks. Education. 22 Labor and social security Labor supply. 11 Political and Legal System Labor law requirements. Legal framework. Social security. Main political parties. 26 Accounting and audit requirements and practices 13 The Economy Accounting. Inflation. Statutory audit requirements. Books and records. Accounting profession. Auditing standards. 15 Doing business Government views toward foreign investment. Free Trade Agreement and other agreements. 28 Tax System Other free trade zone agreements currently in effect. Other tax regime. Foreign investment. Corporate deduction. Establishing a business. Tax incentives. Tourism Law Transfer pricing ruling. Renewable Energy Incentives Law Corporate tax compliance. Public Private Partnerships Law Individual taxation summary. Law of Legal Stability for Investments Individual deduction. Investment Funds Law Individual tax compliance. 8 | Doing Business 2020 A guide for Costa Rica 9 Education1: The country has a 97.80% literacy. For Unesco, a free illiteracy is one whose share does not exceed 5.00% of the population, a condition that meets only our country in Central America. In Costa Rica, the basic pre-school education, general and diversified public education are mandatory and funded by the State. The spending of the State education, by constitutional mandate, can not be less than eight percent (8.00%) per annum of the gross domestic product. The State has an obligation to provide technological access to all levels of education and the pursuit of higher studies by persons who lack financial resources. Awarding scholarships and aid are in charge of the Ministry of Education. Many of the early fathers of the country as the first president José María Castro were former teachers who cared about education in Costa Rica. In 1869, the country became one of the pioneers of the world to make free and compulsory primary education which was funded in part by the great coffee oligarchy. In those days, only 10.00% of Costa Ricans could read and write. Later by 1920, 50.00% of the population was studied and by 1970 89.00% could Overview of the country read and write. In the last 20 years we have seen significant growth in educational standards. Virtually Weather: all schools and public schools in the country are taught English classes2 and one of the Costa Rica because of its geographical location has a tropical, pleasant and relatively stable great efforts that have been developed in the Ministry of Education in recent years, is climate, where its biggest changes are a rainy season and a dry season. Has an average to give students the opportunity to have more and better tools in the field of technology temperature of 22 °C that increases considerably in coastal areas. San Jose (the capital city) (computers), so that from the classroom , children and young people can develop their ranges from 14 ° C to 24 ° C in December and 17 ° to 27 ° C in May. The Caribbean coast skills in managing these tools. Educational program that seeks to implement an integrated has an average of 21 ° C at night and about 30 ° C during the day. The Pacific coast is hotter platform that includes the necessary structure for the interconnection of equipment and than the Caribbean however less humid. continuous training of teachers. Population, form of government, language, currency: In Costa Rica you can find primary and secondary schools in each community. Students should not pay for school attendance; however, there is a voluntary fee of about $ 20 a year Area 51,100 km² for tuition. Elementary school has 6 degrees or levels; meanwhile, secondary education has Population 5,057,999 ha (to the 06/30/19) 5 degrees or levels. Each is divided into two cycles and whenever students pass a course, they must pass tests in all subjects studied during such cycles. There are also so-called Population growth 1.2% (2018) “technical colleges” or “vocational”, in which schoolboys are prepared in technical areas that Political system Democratic Republic allow them to better inserted into the labor market.