Costa Rica Executive Branch publishes Regulations to the General Customs Law

• The Regulations to the General Custom Law apply to provisions of the General Customs Law after its reform in 2022.
• Taxpayers, customs agents and the general audience should review the Regulations in detail to determine their impact and the new applicable procedures or provisions.

On 15 June 2023, the Government of Costa Rica published in the Official Gazette the Executive Decree No. 44051-H, which contains the Regulations to the General Customs Law (Regulations).

The Regulations establish:

• New procedures applicable to the Auxiliaries of the Customs Public Function
• Provisions for Temporary Custom Warehouses, Special Custom Agents, and Authorized Economic Operator (AEO)
• Dispositions regarding customs criteria requested through advanced rulings and technical consultations that can be filed by interested parties
• Provision regarding the new regimes and procedures introduced in the General Customs Law, such as self-rectification of returns, deferred and fractioned payment, among others

The Regulations to the General Customs Law complements the customs regulatory reform that began with the entry into force of the Central American Customs Code (in Spanish "CAUCA") and its regulations in 2021, and the entry into force of the reform to the General Customs Law in 2022.

The Regulations entered into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette.

For additional information with respect to this Alert, please contact the following:

Ernst & Young, Costa Rica

• Rafael Sayagués
• Juan Carlos Chavarría
• Carolina Palma
• Ana G Sánchez Wellermann
• José Martínez Loría
• Jacqueline Alfaro

Published by NTD’s Tax Technical Knowledge Services group; Carolyn Wright, legal editor

For a full listing of contacts and email addresses, please click on the Tax News Update: Global Edition (GTNU) version of this Alert.