QCOSTARICA – It’s November and time to pay for the coming year’s Marchamo (vehicle circulating permit).
And as usual, the Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS), the State agency responsible for the collection of the Marchamo, that includes the compulsory insurance and the annual property tax, among others, provides a list of the top ten vehicles with the highest Marchamo.
For 2023, the list includes five vehicles from Italian automakers, three Ferraris (top 3), a Maserati and Lamborghini, two Mercedes Benz, and three Porsches.
The owners of these ten vehicles will be paying ¢81,722,160 colones (US$138,388 dollars at today’s exchange rate).
The vehicle with the highest Marchamo for 2023 is a 2021 Ferrari (the model was not provided), paying ¢9,540,161 colones. Together, the owners of the three Ferraris on the list will be paying more than ¢28 million colones.
On the opposite side of the scale, the vehicle with the lowest 2023 Marchamo is a 1975 Datsun (pre Nissan) with a payment of ¢67,089 colones.
For 2023, there are 1,744,707 registered vehicles in Costa Rica that will have to pay the circulation permit, with a total collection ¢329 billion colones.
The property tax component is based on the “valor fiscal” (tax value) set by the Ministerio de Hacienda (Ministry of Finance), a value that for 2023 rose 2.13% over the previous year. That is today, tax-wise, vehicles in Costa Rica increased their value from one year to the other.
The Treasury chief, Nogui Acosta, indicated that 67% of the vehicle fleet had their fiscal value increased due to inflation. It is for this reason that they analyze possible changes to the way in which the tax is calculated for the 2024 Marchamo. A promise made each year by the minister of the day that never materializes.
To that end, don’t hurry to pay as the Ministry of Finance acknowledges is still making some adjustments in the amounts it charges on vehicles with some type of exemption, such as electric vehicles.
Some vehicles could be charged the Property Tax in its entirety and not with the discounts granted by the law that encourages the use of green transportation, according to the INS Department of Communication.
Don’t agree with the Tax Value?
Contrary to popular belief, if you do not agree with the assessed tax value of your vehicle(s), claims can be made to the Ministry of Finance to their web portal Autogestión for a request to reassess.
To use the portal, type in the plate number, the ‘Clase Placa’ (scroll down to PART if private passenger vehicle, to avoid get a list of all vehicles in the different classes), don’t worry on the ‘Cod. Gobierno’ and press BUSCAR.
Find your vehicle (if you didn’t include the Clase Placa) and to the right click on ‘Solicitud de Revision’ which will take you to the next screen. Complete and submit.
