Published Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Changes in the shareholders
RTBF report

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Directorate General of Taxation and the Costa Rican Institute on Drugs reported on Monday changes on the companies shareholders report, titled Transparency and Final Beneficiaries Registry, RTBF.

According to the Ministry of Finance, as of April 1, the RTBF report must only be presented once a year in September, and not every month as it was originally established.

Furthermore, the authorities informed that RTBF report, which should have been presented to the Central Bank today as the deadline date, will continue to be valid as long as the companies' shareholders have not made any changes.

That means if the information of the shareholders has not changed concerning the first report presented it is not a requirement to do the same report every month.

In September, the RTBF report should only be presented if the information on the shareholders has changed.

"If the information of the share-owners has not changed, it is not necessary to update the information, it will be enough to confirm the preloaded statement, sign it and send it," said the ministry in its statement. “This way it will be maintained for the following years."

This change also applies to new companies, known as Cédula Jurídica, that were formed this year between January and August. For these new companies, the deadline for submitting the RTBF report is September 30.

If any report sent has errors and requires correction, the changes should be made in September, said the ministry.

These changes approved by the ministry are in the process of being published in the official government newspaper La Gaceta.

According to data provided by the ministry, there are still 81,000 companies created before January 2020 that have not submitted the RTBF report.

The deadline date for the presentation of the report without fines is today.

The companies that present the RTBF report in April must pay a fine between $1,200 and $40,000. The fine will be doubled in May.

According to the ministry, the RTBF aims to comply with the exchange of information on fiscal matters with countries with which Costa Rica has signed agreements, reduce tax evasion, combat money laundering and financing terrorism.

Also, the RTBF requested to measure the effectiveness and implementation of the anti-money laundering and terrorist financing as part of the country's preparation process for an evaluation in 2021 by the International Financial Action Group, FATF.

A good rating will eliminate the risk of the country being included in the FATF alert list. Being part of this list creates negative effects for the country's security, investment and economy, said the ministry.

In December 2019, Garland Baker published the article Transparency Law 9416 and IRS Form 5471, with extensive information on the RTBF report.



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