Taxpayers should review the requirements to ensure they are in compliance with the disclosure requirements.

The Costa Rican Government published Resolution DGT-R-001-2018, which addresses the disclosure of information by companies residing in Costa Rica for purposes of the country-by-country (CbC) reporting requirement. The Resolution was published in the Official Gazette on February 2, 2018.

Generally, the Resolution retains the text suggested by the OECD,¹ with some differences.

Background

On January 27, 2016, the Costa Rican Government signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Exchange of Country-by-Country Reports, which covers the "Standard for Automatic Exchange of Information of Related Parties" or CbC report.

Entities required to submit CbC reports

The following companies or entities, whose global and accumulated gross revenues are equal to or higher than 750 million Euros or its equivalent in the local currency during the reporting tax year, must submit the CbC report:

1. Each ultimate parent entity (parent company or controlling company) of a group or a multinational group that is a tax resident in Costa Rica; an "ultimate parent entity" is defined as a parent or controlling company that holds sufficient direct or indirect interest in one or more group entities, and is obligated to prepare consolidated financial statements under applicable accounting standards, or would be required to do so if the share interest were listed on a stock exchange in its country of tax residence.

2. A surrogate parent entity (when designated as a sole substitute by the ultimate parent), if the surrogate parent entity is a constituent entity and tax resident in Costa Rica; "surrogate parent entity" refers to an entity of the group designated as a sole substitute of the ultimate parent entity, for purposes of presenting the CbC report in the tax jurisdiction of the surrogate parent entity on behalf of the group.

Nevertheless, a company residing in Cost Rica is not required to provide the information relating to the CbC report to the Costa Rican Tax Administration if, in that year, the multinational group has the obligation to provide, and indeed provides the information, through a surrogate parent entity residing abroad.

Notification

Any constituent entity of a group or multinational group that is tax resident in Costa Rica must notify the Costa Rican Tax Administration of its status as the reporting entity, whether it is the ultimate parent entity or surrogate parent entity, of a group or multinational group.² Additionally, any ultimate parent entity residing in Costa Rica that decides to file the CbC report in a foreign tax jurisdiction must notify the Costa Rican Tax Administration of its decision and indicate the name of the group or multinational group.

The notifications should be submitted by the last business day of March each year at the latest, beginning in March 2018. The notifications should be made through a digital document³ signed by the entity's legal representative and addressed to the head of the tax administration (Director General de Tributación).

Contents of the CbC report

The CbC report includes:

1. A general overview of the revenues, taxes and economic activities by tax jurisdiction

2. A list of all member entities of the multinational group included within each aggregation by tax jurisdiction

3. Additional information or explanation deemed necessary or that allows a better understanding of the mandatory information provided in the CbC report

The CbC report must be submitted using the forms included in the appendix to the Resolution.

Filing format and term

The report should be submitted to the tax administration in an XML file that meets the standard structure defined by the OECD.

The deadlines for filing are as follows:

1. Regardless of the closing month of the tax period, the group or multinational group should file its first CbC report no later than December 31, 2018, for fiscal year 2017.

2. For fiscal years after 2017, the group or multinational group should file the report no later than December 31 of the year following the corresponding fiscal year.

The webpage for submitting the XML files will be announced at least one month prior to the deadline to submit the report.

Penalties for failing to comply with the disclosure of information

Taxpayers who fail to comply with the CbC reporting requirement may be subject to penalties in accordance with Article 83 of the Code of Tax Standards and Procedures of the Republic of Costa Rica.

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ENDNOTES

¹ Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development; according to the Action 13: Country-by-Country Reporting Implementation Package, published by the OECD on June 8, 2015.

² The text of the Resolution differs from the text suggested by the OECD, which additionally requires that any constituent entity that is not a reporting entity (the ultimate parent entity or surrogate parent entity), notify the Tax Administration of the country where it resides and the identity and fiscal residence of the reporting entity.

³ In both cases, the document should be sent to the following email address: tributacioninter@hacienda.go.cr