QCOSTARICA (Summa) With the signature of President Rodrigo Chaves and the Ministers of Foreign Trade, Finance and the Interior and Police; The approval of the regulations for the Film Investment Attraction Law in Costa Rica was confirmed, which will facilitate the arrival of projects of this industry in Costa Rica.
With the approval of this regulation, the benefits are enabled so that investors in this sector can begin the application of the incentives defined in the Law, such as the total exoneration of income tax and any other tax on profits, the refund exemption from all taxes on the permanent importation of goods into the national territory for the performance of film activities, as well as the exemption from a suspension of all temporary importation taxes on equipment.
The regulation is effective from the publication in the official gazette La Gaceta.
“The approval of this regulation means a window of opportunities for Costa Rica, it is to place our country in the lens of large international productions. This translates into great potential to attract film investments that can generate more linkages with our offer of locations, goods and services, it means bringing more economic and social development to the entire country -especially to regions outside the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM). )-, and it means economic recovery at a time when the country needs it the most,” said Manuel Tovar, Minister of Foreign Trade and President of the Board of Directors of PROCOMER.
In relation to the promotion of productive chains, the regulation defines that the Promoter of Foreign Trade (PROCOMER) will raise and update a permanent inventory of suppliers of goods and services that may be required by the beneficiaries of the Law; which will be available both on the PROCOMER website (www.procomer.com) and on the Costa Rican Film Commission (www.costaricafilmcommission.org).
The regulation of the Film Investment Attraction Law establishes all the operative provisions that must be followed by firms interested in carrying out audiovisual projects in Costa Rica and taking advantage of the incentives it offers. In addition, it specifies that PROCOMER and the Technical Secretariat of the Costa Rican Film Commission may provide support and follow-up to the procedures related to each Film or Audiovisual Investment Project (PIA), with the aim of improving the investor experience.
Likewise, local governments throughout the country play a very important role and this is specified in the regulation, when it dictates that “municipalities, based on the principles of simplifying procedures and administrative efficiency, will seek to have an integrated permit for all those necessary authorizations or requirements in the case of audiovisual filming in public spaces or in public domain assets under its jurisdiction”.
Worldwide, the film industry exceeds $41,000 million, which is why COMEX and PROCOMER joined -five years ago- the development of the audiovisual industry through the creation of the Film Commission, supporting the sector from four angles:
- Attraction of audiovisual businesses to Costa Rica.
- Support to national talents to export and monetize their projects.
- Facilitating procedures through coordination with other institutions.
- Supporting the design of an incentive proposal to attract international film/audiovisual projects to be produced in Costa Rica.
In pursuit of these edges, Regional Commissions and Film Friendly Zones have been formed in practically all regions of the country, to facilitate procedures and for more international productions to establish themselves in Costa Rica. In addition, catalogs of locations and service providers for the audiovisual sector have been generated, as well as the generation of protocols for filming permits in institutions in the region.
