Costa Rica: The law that regulates casinos was approved

The project, that may soon be voted in second debate, aims to regulate and tax the casino activity and call centers for bets. One of the projects established by this project, approved unanimously, is that today casinos can be installed in 3-star hotels and above, and with this law, the activity will be more limited to 4-star hotels. Besides, it seeks to collect more taxes from this economic activity to allocate it to sectors related to town safety and combat of criminality.

The representative of Frente Amplio, José María Villalta, voted in favor of the project, although he acknowledged he would have wanted more regulation. “This law is, anyhow, an improvement. For more than 10 years the Legislative Assembly has been fighting in order to impose more taxes to casinos, and for the first time a tax increment is achieved”, said the legislator.

Representative Marielos Alfaro said that her group did not change its position. “What happened was that, within the negotiations in the sector that represents casinos, it was the one that looked for an approach and accepted that it must contribute with tax rates”, he explained. “We do not agree in charging more taxes, but this project allocates the resources that they will collect for a specific goal, which is security”, he affirmed.