The rules have changed.
2026 has been one of those years. Let me tell you what is happening right now in Costa Rica — and what you need to do before it is too late.
Email Registration Deadline: June 4, 2026
The Registro Nacional has a new requirement: every company in Costa Rica must register an official email address for legal notifications. The deadline is June 4, 2026.
I know it sounds simple. It is simple. But the consequences of missing it are not.
After June 4, any company without a registered email cannot do transactions, cannot move, cannot operate. And here is the part that keeps me up at night: if a legal process is filed against your company, the notification goes to that email automatically. If you have not set it up — you will not know it happened until it is too late.
Beneficiarios Finales Declaration
The deadline was April 30, 2026. If your company has not filed the annual declaration of final beneficiaries — the declaration required under Costa Rica’s anti-money laundering and anti-narcotrafficking law — your company is already blocked.
And there is something new this year that caught a lot of people off guard, including people who thought they had it covered.
You can no longer file this declaration with a poder especial. That door is closed.
If you are a foreign shareholder without Costa Rican residency and without a digital signature — and most of my foreign clients are exactly in this situation — you now need to grant a poder generalísimo to someone who holds a valid digital signature, so they can file on your behalf.
I need to be honest with you about what a poder generalísimo means. It is not a small thing. It is total legal authority. You should never give it casually, and you should never give it to someone you do not fully trust. When my clients come to me for this, I sit with them and explain every word of what they are signing — because they deserve to understand exactly what they are authorizing.
That is also why we created our Nominee Representative service as a safer alternative. Our representative acts under a specific written agreement that limits their authority — by type of act and by amount. You get the compliance coverage you need without giving away total control. It is the responsible way to do this.
If your company has not filed, do not panic — but do call us. We can prepare the poder generalísimo and file the declaration on your behalf.
The Inactive Company Tax Declaration
Here is a myth I hear constantly: “My company is inactive, so I don’t need to file taxes.”
Wrong. And it is an expensive myth.
Every company incorporated in Costa Rica is created under the commercial code. That means every company — active or inactive — is an object of commerce and must file a tax declaration. Active companies file monthly. Inactive companies — the ones that simply hold a property, a car, or other assets — must file one annual declaration listing what they hold.
The deadline was April 30. If you missed it, penalties are already running. The sooner you regularize, the less it costs.
Your Commercial Name Is No Longer Protected by the Razón Social
This one surprised even me when it came into effect.
For years, companies in Costa Rica could register and operate under a razón social — a commercial name attached to the company. That system is gone. Eliminated.
Today, if you want to legally protect the name your business operates under, you must register it as a trademark with the Registro de Propiedad Intelectual. Full stop. If you have not done this, your brand name is open. Anyone can register it tomorrow and you have no legal recourse.
We handle trademark registration. And I will tell you from experience — the people who call me after someone else registered their name are the ones who wish they had called me before.
The Obligations That Never Change
Even in a quiet year, your company has standing obligations:
- Annual company tax — due in January, every year.
- Annual shareholders meeting — must happen, must be recorded in your authorized corporate book.
- CCSS/INS registration and monthly social security payments — mandatory for every active company with employees.
- Corporate books — must be maintained and up to date at all times and Capital Social must match the declared values.
Why Is the Government Making This So Hard?
I get this question a lot. And honestly, the answer is straightforward.
Costa Rica wants people here legally. The government is not trying to punish foreign investors — it is trying to bring them into the system. Every tightened requirement, every eliminated shortcut, every new digital signature mandate points in the same direction: get your residency, do things right, and everything becomes easier.
Legal residency gives you a Costa Rican digital signature. With a firma digital you can file your own declarations, sign documents remotely, authorize transactions, and manage your company from anywhere in the world — without depending on anyone, without paying extra for every single deadline.
If you have been putting off your residency application, I am telling you as your lawyer: stop putting it off. We handle immigration and residency from start to finish, and the peace of mind on the other side is worth every step of the process.
Not Sure Where Your Company Stands? Start Here — For Free.
Before any client joins our compliance program, we do a complete review of their company’s legal and tax status at no charge. We check everything — registry, tax filings, declarations, books, representative powers. You find out exactly where things are. No surprises, no assumptions.
Then we take it from there.
Here is what we can do for you:
- Email registration before June 4 — urgent
- Beneficiarios Finales declaration and poder generalísimo
- Inactive company tax declarations and regularization
- Trademark registration — protect your name
- Nominee Representative service with a limiting agreement
- Corporate Secretary services and back office
- Residency and visas — start the immigration process now
- Free company compliance review — start here
📧 info@peninsulacounsels.com 📞 (506) 83393773 / 21016890 🌐 peninsulacounsels.com
Peninsula Counsels — Costa Rica.
