Costa Rica Relocation; Shipping to Costa Rica & Import Taxes

So you are giving up your stressful life and moving to Costa Rica. You’ve done a bit of research and know Limon is the main port to ship your personal items too but now the big questions. What’s it going to cost? How does it all work?

First, consider that Costa Rica Relocation includes import duties. You’ll want to have some garage sales and donate a bunch of stuff so you don’t end up paying a lot. Regarding taxes, note that Costa Rica has several laws covering the importation of used items and if you want to ship new items due so outside of the original packing to make it seem used.

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Once you’ve narrowed down your belongings, you’ll want to look into shipping in a 40 foot or 20 foot Cargo Container from Miami to either Limon or Caldera. Shipping a container to Costa Rica is the cheapest way to get a large assortment of items to your new home in Costa Rica.

The items you pack in your container should be for personal use and not intended for resale. They must be used (or appear used and be at least 6 months old). You must be over the age of 18 and have entered Costa Rica within 90 days prior to your items clearing Customs in order to get any possible tax exemptions. But the truth is getting taxes back from the Costa Rican government is a pain and normally not worth the time and effort.

Other items pay duties based on the cost, insurance, freight and value. How much you pay in freight will affect how much you pay in duties. The more you ship, the lower the shipping costs per weight therefore you’ll have lower proportional duties.

By far, the biggest expense is shipping your vehicle. Prices depend on the size of the car and whether or not it it a roll-on (drive it off) or shipped in a container. You may pay $950 or so shipping it roll on roll off from port. The problem comes later on because the car is taxed based on it’s original price, not its value, not its condition, not its Blue Book value. It’s charged on the extremely high price you would pay for it new in Costa Rica (Black Book Value).  Expect to pay 55% on cars from 2004-2007 and 80% on cars older than 1998.