AM Costa Rica has reported that the Costa Rican government has decided to postpone plans to impose a new tax on the online gambling industry. Late last year President Laura Chinchilla introduced a new tax plan that would have increased taxes on online casinos in order to help fund police officers in their fight against the rising crime rate. The bill was debated for quite some time but now it appears that the government will be focusing on implementing other more important tax reforms. The new tax is likely be reintroduced at a later date but at this time Marco Vargas, Minister of the Presidency, feels that the idea of changing the taxation regulations, "was not viable".

The online gambling industry showed fierce opposition to the proposal and industry experts said that it would essentially dismember the gambling industry and force it to close down. Online casino operators will continue to monitor the situation and it is likely that if higher taxes are put into place many will pull out of the region or focus their efforts elsewhere.

As always, stay tuned to Casinofan for more news and updates.

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Online tax frontier
written by Tee, April 07, 2011

Maybe not now, but can it not be far off that taxation will extend to online activities especially the ones that contribute heavily to the balance of payments?

Cheers, Tee

Tee is the founder and senior editor of Costa Rica CLOSEUP a Travel Guide to Costa Rica with Events, Articles and Information for everyone traveling, retiring and/or purchasing real estate in Costa Rica. Please visit www.costaricacloseup.com for more information.

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