On October 24, a bill called “Cryptoassets Market Law” was submitted to the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica, under file No. 23.415.
The proposal seeks to generate greater financial inclusion and modernize Costa Rica’s digital economy through the promotion and regularization of the mining, commercialization, exchange, transfer, holding, establishment, use and taxation of cryptoassets. In this sense, the law would be applicable to any individual or legal entity, private or public, that carries out any of the activities related to cryptoassets.
The bill contemplates five chapters. The first includes definitions and the scope of application; the second describes what cryptoassets are and their categories; the third refers to their ownership, uses and liability; the fourth chapter delimits the cryptoassets service providers, their registration in terms of prevention of money laundering, and the inclusion in the Payments System (SINPE) of the Central Bank of Costa Rica; and the fifth refers to the tax regime of cryptoassets, with reference to taxes on profits, value added, capital gains and losses and others.
Cryptoassets will be classified according to their use (payment, useful, investment and hybrid) and will be considered private property of whoever has sufficient credentials or powers in a digital wallet to execute, unilaterally or prevent indefinitely, the custody, holding and transfer of cryptoassets. On the other hand, it is proposed that State entities may receive cryptoassets for the payment of taxes, tariffs and any other type of obligation.
All entities supervised by the different Superintendencies of the Costa Rican financial system may use cryptoassets, as well as offer products and services related to them, according to the regulations to be issued for such purposes by CONASSIF. With respect to the subjects bound by articles 15 and 15 bis of Law 7786, it is indicated that they will be able to offer products and services related to crypto-assets without having to register additionally before the SUGEF.
For more information, see the text of the bill submitted to the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica at the following link.