Hotel Tax May Go, $15 To
Be Added To All Airfares
To Costa Rica
Good news for visitors
staying at hotels in
Costa Rica, as the 3%
hotel tax could be soon
eliminated. The bad news
is that the government
is considering making up
the shortfall by added a
us$15 flat fee on all
airfares to Costa Rica,
if the legislation
currently before the
Legislative Assembly is
passed.
Currently, guests at
hotels in Costa Rica pay
a 16% tax on their room
(13% sales tax and 3%
hotel tax). The hotel
tax on a us$100 a night
hotel room would be
us$3, or us$21 for a
seven night stay. Paying
the lower air tax of
us$15 is cheaper that
the hotel tax.,
However, budget
travellers would not see
the same benefit as the
cost for a stay at a
hostel can range from
us$10 to us$20 a night.
Using a us$15 per night
average, the total tax
paid on a seven night
stay is only us$3.15.
The objective of the
legislation, according
to its promoter, Maureen
Ballestero, is to boost
revenue for the
Instituto Costarricense
de Turismo (ICT) - Costa
Rican tourism board.
Although the 3% hotel
tax collected by the
government is sent to
the ICT, more and more
visitors are now staying
at condos or vacation
homes either owned or
rented for their stay,
which are not subject to
the hotel tax.
Ballestero said that in
some cases hotel
operators are charging
the hotel tax but not
reporting. "There are
more hotels and more
visitors, but revenue
from the 3% hotel tax
has remained the same",
said Ballestero.
Ballestero added that it
was time to update the
system and feels that
she will get the support
of the other
legislators.
In 2006, the ICT
received us$7.9 millions
in revenue from the
hotel taxi, an increase
of almost 20% over the
us$6.6 million dollar
revenue in 2005.
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