- Costa Rica Online Casino License Application
- Liberia Costa Rica Casinos
- Costa Rica Online Casino License Online
Licensing in Costa Rica Due to the lack of specific online gambling legislation in Costa Rica, it’s relatively easy for an operator to establish itself in the jurisdiction. A data processing license is needed; the requirements for which include having a physical office located within Costa Rica.
Costa Rica has long been a major hub for online gambling,
sports betting, and poker. A few of the largest and most
successful names in all of gambling are either currently based
out of Costa Rica or were in the past. The country has call
centers, headquarters, and even a few billionaires all related to
internet gaming.
The funny thing is Costa Rica doesn’t have a licensing system
and never has. There are no licenses, permits, or regulatory
bodies governing online gambling in Costa Rica. All the operator
needs to do is run the business how it sees fit. There are no
laws in Costa Rica that specifically address the business of
online gambling other than one: no company located in Costa Rica
may take online wagers from locals.
If you’re a player, that might sound scary. Anyone can set up
shop in Costa Rica and ask for your money. However, you should
remember that a number of respected gambling sites still operate
out of Costa Rica. It’s a beautiful country with a low tax rate
and limited business-killing regulations. Not every gambling
site in Costa Rica is there to take advantage of the licensing
situation.
- Online Gambling Licensing. No specific online gambling license is required to legally run an online gambling business in Costa Rica. Online casinos and poker rooms operators function under the ‘data processing license’ issued by Costa Rican municipality. In order to be licensed in Costa Rica an online gambling business operator needs to have a physical office on the territory of the state.
- Costa Rica licenses only cover brick and mortar casinos. It means that if a player suspects foul play, they can press charges and receive reimbursement from the site if proven right. Sadly, when it comes to online betting, no particular rules concerning the service are in place. This means that the players are at risk every time they log onto Costa Rica Casino sites to play for cash. The lack of online regulatory bodies provides a loophole for casinos to take advantage of players.
But yes, there are also bad operators working out of Costa
Rica. If you’re in the market for a gambling site, we recommend
looking at our reviews rather than basing your decision on where the site
is located or what licenses it has. Licenses don’t tell the
whole story. In some jurisdictions, licenses are handed out so
easily that it’s just as useless as having no license at all.
Data Processing License
There’s no official license for online gambling in Costa
Rica, so all gambling operations simply get a “data processing”
license from San Jose City Hall. Then, the operator sets up a
corporation and corporate bank account in Costa Rica.
Banking is difficult for gambling sites in Costa Rica as the
banking system there is heavily influenced by the United States.
Local banks want nothing to do with online gambling. Obviously,
there are ways around the banking problem.
Corporations in Costa Rica aren’t taxed on income earned
overseas. Since operators based out of the nation do zero
business with locals, they essentially operate tax-free.
There are several companies that specialize in getting
everything set up for those interested in starting an operation
in Costa Rica. These companies are able to assist in
establishing a Costa Rican corporation, getting a banking
solution in order and obtaining the data processing license.
A Proposal to Regulate E-Gaming
President Laura Chinchilla announced in 2013 that the Costa
Rican government was interested in regulating and licensing
online gambling. The Finance Ministry released draft plans to
issue licenses to providers for an annual fee of $50,000.
The proposal also included a 0.5% tax on gross income and a
5% tax to combat any criminal activity associated with gambling.
Nothing has changed as of this writing, but it’s worth noting
that the idea is at least floating around out there. We’ll
update this page if anything changes.
Costa Rica has been an online gambling hub for a long time dating back to the 90s. Costa Rica used to have one of the largest concentrations of online gaming companies based in there with their gaming servers. Now the main companies that are still based there tend to be more US facing online sportsbooks that also have casino and sometimes a poker room. Some of the major companies that used to have some operations in Costa Rica included Bodog, PokerStars and BetonSports. BetonSports drew worldwide news when their CEO was arrested in the United States which ended the online gaming website.
Costa Rica Online Casino License Application
Over the years the reputation of online gambling companies in Costa Rica has been fading. For years the country operated without any form of online gambling legislation that would have licensed and taxed gaming companies there. During this time other egaming jurisdictions were doing things the right way and since then many companies have switched to reputation online gambling jurisdictions. Some of the locations companies have switched to include Curacao, Kahnawake, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, United Kingdom and London.
Liberia Costa Rica Casinos
The President of Costa Rica Laura Chinchilla Miranda wants to create a gambling control board to offer licenses and tax online gambling companies in Costa Rica. It appears there isn't a gambling control board in place at the moment.
Costa Rica Online Casino License Online
Some notable gaming companies that are based in Costa Rica include: Rome Casino, Ace Live Casino, WagerWeb, Castle Casino, 5Dimes, Justbet, Bookmaker, Slotastic, Switch Poker, Jazz sportsbook & casino, Skybet and Betmaker.