Costa Rica is one of the most famous jurisdictions in the world regarding gaming rules. Currently, more than 300 websites working with online gambling have registered with their license. Many of them are leader companies in the worldwide gambling market. Despite of this, Costa Rica does not have specific laws on online gambling. The government of Costa Rica allows any other state to register a license in its territory in order to guarantee legal online games to its customers, though it is strictly forbidden to play any sort of gambling.

For this reason ( namely, the lack of legislation and control over online gambling), unlike many other companies, those registered or based in Costa Rica aren’t monitored or subject to special security practices. This also means that, since there is not a body of government used in these tasks, companies are regulating themselves and they have not to pay fees on gambling or games offered.

The License

License of Costa Rica provides the principle of territoriality. Any income coming from a foreign source is exempt from taxes, just part of the income earned in Costa Rica is subject to a tax imposed by government authorities. Since it is the acquiring company that has to link itself to any regulatory framework, there is no other special requirement to obtain a license in Costa Rica but to possess enough money to buy it. Similarly, even the software hasn’t to meet any standard requirement and no warranty regarding anti-money laundering policy has to be submitted.

Finally, it is not even necessary to guarantee any safety requirement or bonus on deposits of the players. The only real obligation is that the company mustn’t permit gambling to people living in Costa Rica.

How much does the license of Costa Rica cost ?

The price of one license of Costa Rica is U.S. $ 5 000 for legal fees, $ 500 for administrative costs, $ 3,600 of annual lease and $ 5,000 for renewal at the end of each year. You can also acquire temporary licenses, which have similar costs: $ 500 administrative costs, $ 5,000 taxes, $ 1,200 annual lease and $ 2,000 for renewal at the end of each year. To obtain a license, it takes 1-2 months from the time of your request.

How is it possible to obtain a game license in Costa Rica ?

As mentioned above, there is no special technical requirement or safety condition to be satisfied. Virtually anyone can apply for a gaming license in Costa Rica, if he has the money to buy it and the server can block any IP address coming from Costa Rica, since gambling is prohibited there