Costa Rica Licensed Casinos

Introduction to Costa Rica Gambling Law and Regulation

While gambling is a major business all around the world in some form or other, many countries still keep it illegal as per law.

From lotteries, betting on matches, online casinos, and even land-based betting venues, there are several faces to it.

Costa Rica is a country in Central America that has been of recent interest to casino establishments, and in this article, we learn more about its gambling laws and regulations. So let us begin with a brief history.

Political State

As a new political state, Costa Rica is a rugged rainforest in Central America. It is a small country with coastlines facing the Caribbean and Pacific. Its capital San Jose is home to a lot of museums and the country attracts tourists for volcanoes, beaches, biodiversity, and recently casinos.

The wonders of nature and man-made architecture play a gamble with the surroundings where nature often wins. The country is deemed developing with poor economic growth and hence gambling establishments offer a good source of economical advantage because of which legislations are in place for making it free and sustainable.

It is a unique jurisdiction in Central America and an online gambling license is not provided in Costa Rica, yet there are hundreds of online casinos where you can play with real money.

History

If we go as far back as 2000, Costa Rica was home to over 80 internet companies and internet gambling knows no borders, so it was one of the heavens. Dozens of companies flocked to this country to make central America the leading offshore heaven for online casinos and offshore bookie heaven. So, at least 80 companies which were primarily internet gambling brands that take bets on sports, and matches around the world, set up their shops and offices in Costa Rica.

Lured by the tax regulations in the country beside Isle of Man, Malta, this looked very promising. They also had a cheap labor force who spoke English, along with Spanish, making it ideal for businesses.

Because of this surge in dominating the markets, Costa Rica started a history in the online or internet gambling market some 20 years back. It was not a part of any gambling commission jurisdiction or had any specific laws to regulate or restrict it, so this was even better for these businesses. Most of these were small companies with little to no obligations.

While this growth in Costa Rica Gambling put forth up to 5000 active people working in this sector, and that too with good wages, benefits and all, there were some concerns. The U.S officials were not happy with this growing trend. The majority of the internet or web bookies in Costa Rica had clients in the United States, and a very few focused on Asian markets.

The largest number of bets was on football and professional basketball, leading to their growing concerns. So, as per the US Federal Law, internet betting was prohibited then. However, as of today, it is becoming legal to have casino-style internet gambling and online casinos in the US states.

Present Time

Costa Rica is especially attractive today welcoming online gambling companies with young people, with strong computer and English skills. It is a country with a good and growing infrastructure too. The country and its government are also working hard to attract high-tech businesses because they go hand in glove with online businesses.

With a growing number of electronics factories and hubs, Costa Rica is becoming a hub for gambling. Though it is not actively pursuing online casinos and gambling, Costa Rica has made it easier for them to set up businesses in 2022, and unlike other countries where it is legal, Costa Rica does not have any licensing fee for most establishments.

Gambling Laws

Although Costa Rica never had any special laws to regulate gambling, the companies were free to operate with municipal licenses under legal names. The age group of employees working here varies usually between 18 to 25, and they earn nominal from 600 USD per month to 1600 USD. Most support staff earn around USD 590. This is in contrast to an average Costa Rican worker whose monthly income is around USD 325.

The jobs created by these online casinos make up for the fact that they pay almost no taxes. When the US officials wish to ban them, it makes no sense, and keeping these online gambling casinos in Costa Rica inaccessible to their IP addresses may be one way to regulate gambling in the US. Many officials have tried to levitate the license fees like that of Antigua which charges a USD 100,000 annual fee for online casinos.

As of today, laws are pretty lenient. If you wish to play casino in Costa Rica, offline and engage in horse racing, and dog racing betting, there are several popular spots for travelers. The spots are both international and local and have great facilities. Most of these are available in large cities and regions which attract most travelers.

Many of these are located inside big hotels and major resorts too. Currently, there are 40 venues in 18 different cities in the region, and Costa Rica's gambling laws and regulations cover each. The largest concentration of casinos is in San Jose, the capital of the country. You will find a whopping 18 casinos in this region. This goes to say that their laws and regulations may be very lenient or non-existent even in 2023.

Costa Rica Internet Gaming License

Because of the lack of significant and specific online gambling laws in Costa Rica, it is relatively easy for operators and companies to establish their offices and businesses. However, in terms of licensing you may need a data processing license, the requirement of having a physical address with postal code for the company in Costa Rica, and nothing much.

There are also authorized consultants in the region that offer assistance in getting this license too, making it way easier for businesses to set up a stronghold in the country with minimal to no licensing and taxes.

And, due to a large number of gambling sites based in Costa Rica, an internet gaming license was introduced to make this change. But, the license is still not mandatory for all to provide gambling services in the region. At the same time, most sites do apply for it regardless to stay safe from any consequences.

Gambling Regulatory Body in Costa Rica

As for the Costa Rica gambling license, it does not exist in the true sense because there is no online gambling or casino-specific rule. Operators need to abide by a single authority which is the Municipality or the Costa Rican Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Economics to apply for a data processing license.

This is the sole authority in this state or country and regulates all forms of markets, businesses, etc. These licenses are issued by respective municipalities, regional government offices, and so on. This is why it is so simple and easy to set up an online casino office in this region.

Although a major industrial hub in Latin America, Costa Rica does not have any online casino license to date 2023. Online gambling operations are free and encouraged. There are ways to establish fully legal online gambling in the country, as we write now.

All the games of chance were formally made illegal in 1972 by passing the 1972 Gambling Law, but subsequently, the doors began to open to legalizing it. And, today land-based casinos, tables, slots, and so on are openly allowed in hotels and parlors.

As of the current interpretation of their laws, online gambling takes place when there is a legal online transaction between a player and operator. It depends on where the transactions are processed rather than where the operator is based or located.

This means that even if their operators are based with offices in their jurisdictions, the government doesn’t make it necessary to get any license as the transactions are not processed in any of their local banks. These banks don’t offer services to citizens of Costa Rica to transact with gambling companies. Therefore, this is the only law or legal obligation there is to it.

License Provisions & Player Protection

As we just mentioned, there is a single provision for a data processing license which is also not a big deal because there are certified authorized persons to take care of it in every municipal region of Costa Rica. There must be a physical presence of the company in that municipal region because the licenses are issued by the respective municipality. The exact requisites for obtaining such a license may vary from one municipality to another, but we have a default set of requirements below.

• You have to provide a certification of the legal capacity of the company with proper documentation to offer data processing for the company. This is a basic necessity for most establishments of any kind.
• Identification cards of ID proofs for natural applicants, and certification for authorized residence proof. You may need the immigration department’s seal for foreign companies.
• A land agreement or rental agreement offering rights to use the land for the gambling establishment.
• A certificate that states fulfillment of previous tax obligations, and no dues.

This is a fairly standard process and can be easily obtained with the help of authorized consultants. So, when it comes to player protection, rights, privacy, fair gaming, and such policies, it is simply non-existent because there are no regulatory bodies to monitor and enforce the same.

While the gambling websites might declare and put forth such articles and FAQs, in case of any discrepancy there is really no authority to challenge their decisions. While many gambling and online casinos are genuine, many may be frauds or have a tendency to ignore customer complaints, and there is no guarantee from Costa Rica officials to protect users from casinos that are based there.