Taxes « A Broad In Costa RicaA Broad In Costa Rica

Reader Question: Transferring Money, Taxes

I got this email a couple of days ago. Since these are common questions – in fact, we had most of them – I’m answering on the blog.

“I have enjoyed reading your info on the net. We are thinking of buying a small condo and living in Costa Rica in the winter. If we rented the condo out the other months, how do you get your monies back to your country of origin (home)?“

You wire it. Complicated, lots of paperwork, but do-able.

“Is this legal?”

Making money here? Or transferring money to and . . . → Read More About Reader Question: Transferring Money, Taxes

Knee-Jerk Reactions

Jacqueline’s pistol-whipping break-in, along with everything else I wrote about yesterday, is upsetting our apple cart. Not to mention today’s A.M. Costa Rica article about how the I.R.S. is "helping" Costa Rica redefine it’s income tax laws. Because, you know, the U.S. is the expert when it comes to owning its citizens. Apparently, Costa Rica sees this as a good thing.

Back in the discussion of the surprise dollar devaluation against the colón, I totally skipped reporting on the inflation rate. El pais [pie-EESE, country] says it’s 10%. My pocketbook – and those . . . → Read More About Knee-Jerk Reactions

Money and Banking

Many people write to me about living in Costa Rica, asking what it’s like, how to move here. Mostly, they ask about schools and money. Schools are pretty covered on the blog; money has not been. A complicated topic, I’ll tell you what little I’ve learned in the past year.

Just before we moved here, we called a few local experts and asked about banking, how to open an account, buying a corporation, things like that. One guy asked where we were from. When we said, "Florida," he said, "If you are a U.S. citizen, I can’t even talk . . . → Read More About Money and Banking

“Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger!”

Or, in Costa Rica, "Hamburgesa con queso! Hamburgesa con queso!" [ahm-bur-GAY-sah cone KAY-sew] It’s a mouthful. And, if you have a teenager, you say it a lot.

A good cheeseburger in Costa Rica is hard to come by. Beef here is not that great; it tends to be gristly and just not flavorful. This came as a surprise because the country is littered with gigantic cattle farms. Gigantic farms, not gigantic cattle.

A friend who owns such a farm told me they sell the good cuts of beef overseas. Costa Ricans don’t eat much beef . . . → Read More About “Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger!”

A Broad In Costa Rica

Categories

Reader Question: Transferring Money, Taxes

Knee-Jerk Reactions

Money and Banking

“Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger!”

Archives