8 Ways to Get Your Holiday Goodies into Costa Rica Easily or Safely

My post about how to receive packages in Costa Rica while avoiding having them snagged by Customs, which requires a trip to San José and a couple hours of bureacratic SNAFU to retrieve said package, continues to be one of my more popular articles.

Still, I often get asked the question: "Just how do you get stuff shipped into Costa Rica?"

Attack of the Drones - CC-SA-3.0

Unfortunately, Amazon drone delivery does not seem to be on the horizon anytime soon.

So, to supplement the original article, here is a list (probably incomplete) on the various methods that I've either used or have learned second-hand from others who have found them to be successful.

Eliminating the Worry of Shipping Your Car to Costa Rica

Are ready for an extended stay or retirement to the Land of Eternal Spring and have already decided you prefer to enjoy the freedom and convenience of driving your own vehicle while living in Costa Rica?

Buy a Car Inside Costa Rica or Bring Your Own?

Always check the tire quality!

We'll assume you already hashed out the pros and cons of vehicle ownership in Costa Rica. The next question is whether it’s wiser to buy a vehicle in-country or ship your current vehicle from North America. From my experience, if I had to do it over again, I’d bring in my own car without hesitation.

Why? Well, if you add up all the costs including shipping and import fees, you probably come out about even, but you’ll have one overriding advantage, which is complete confidence in your vehicle. That is something not available when purchasing a used car in Costa Rica.

One Big Reason Cars Are So Expensive in Costa Rica

It's a good news, bad news story in La Nación today regarding the import duties for new and used cars brought into Costa Rica. The site is in Spanish, but here's my rough translation of the most pertinent part of the story:

"According to the tariffs that have applied until now, new and second-hand cars of no older than three years faced a consumption tax of 30 % , cars four or five years old 40%, and more than six years old 53%.

In the next 10 working days, new and second-hand cars up to six years old will face a consumption tax of 30 % and will have an entire tax load of 53 % while cars seven years and older will see a tarriff of 48%."

The good news is that this is supposed to be a "tax cut" though it probably doesn't feel like such great news for most folks who initially pay the tax, and those who are paying it indirectly in higher car prices. 

Anyone know the make and model?

Questions? Well, I have a few that maybe expats here with more expertise in these matters can answer:

• Is the 53% "entire tax load" really on all cars up to six years old or just new ones?
• What's in that difference between the basic tariff and the full load (23%)? 13% of it must be sales tax, right?
• Is there a "full load" figure for the older cars paying the 48% base tariff?
• Where the heck does all this money go? Let me rephrase that: where is the money supposed to go? I'd wager it's not going into better roads.

Is It Really Worth the Trouble and Expense to Obtain Costa Rican Residency?

Knowing what I know now, having been through the residency process (as it was five years ago) and one renewal last year, I am not at all sure that I would do it again. Solely from an economic standpoint, I no longer think it's worth it for most people. Obtaining Costa Rican residency costs more in hard cash than in almost any other Latin American country.

It also does not come with many fringe benefits. For example, Panamá last year did an upgrade to their residency requirements that makes moving there very tempting form a financial viewpoint. You can get permanent (not temporary like in Costa Rica) the first time and with very little money in the bank. They also have huge discounts for retirees on just about everything. You bring in your household goods duty-free and the list goes on. You pay full freight in terms of duty and taxes when you move your stuff to Costa Rica. Sure, you'll get some big discounts at the  Costa Rica national parks and passing through Customs seems to be easier when you are a resident, but those advantages are very minor in the bigger picture.

Weighing Costs versus Legal Requirements

From a freedom of lifestyle perspective, residency might even be thought of as a detriment since once you are invested in it, you want to keep it going and thus, its presence may hinder you from trying another place. That is especially true during the first couple of years when you are still seeing if you can adjust. I will try to leave aside such subjective measures in the following calculations though. Which is why I also won't belabor all the physical and mental hassles of obtaining residency. Some people, crazy people, might actually enjoy those!

Bear with me as I walk through the calculations. Who knows, by the time I am through I may have even convinced myself that it is the right way to go. In all these calculations, I am figuring the costs for a couple who are applying for a Pensionado visa. The overall costs for rentista would be higher (see discussion of Caja below).