Costa Rica: gambling regulation and licensing
Republic of Costa Rica
- Online casinoUnregulated
- Online sports bettingUnregulated
- Online pokerUnregulated
- iLotteryMonopoly
- Land-based (reference)Regulated
- Regulator
- No gambling regulator for online activity
- Headline tax
- Not yet verified
- Licence required
- No
- Last verified
- 30 Aug 2026
Summary
Costa Rica is the clearest case in this map of a market that is unregulated by omission rather than by design. It issues no gambling licence at all. The only statute that acknowledges the industry, Law 9050 of 2012, is a tax law: it charges companies dedicated to the reception and processing of data that generate electronic bets an annual amount banded by headcount at 57, 85 or 113 base salaries, and leaves the actual permits to the municipality where the company sits. That is why operators here hold a San Jose data-processing patente rather than a licence. Land-based casinos are treated quite differently and are confined by Article 3 to four-star-or-better hotels, with tables and machines authorised by the Ministry of Public Security. Domestic lottery and betting belong to the Junta de Proteccion Social. The distinction matters commercially, because a data-processing patente confers no gambling authorisation and no regulatory supervision that a payment provider or a partner can rely on. Costa Rica is best read as an address of convenience rather than as a licensing jurisdiction, and treating it otherwise is a common error.
Key facts
- Regulator
- No gambling regulator for online activity
- Regulator type
- No dedicated regulator
- Headline tax
- Not yet verified
- Licence required
- No
- Minimum age
- Not yet verified
- Tax base
- There is no gross-gaming-revenue tax on online gambling, because the State does not treat online gambling as a taxable gambling activity. Instead Article 4 of Law 9050 charges companies dedicated to the reception and processing of data that generate electronic bets an annual tax fixed by headcount: 57 base salaries up to 50 employees, 85 base salaries from 51 to 99 employees, and 113 base salaries at 100 or more. The fiscal year runs 1 January to 31 December and the amount is settled proportionally each quarter. The base salary is the figure defined in Article 2 of Law 7337 of 1993. Article 11 makes these taxes non-deductible for income-tax purposes. Land-based casinos are separately charged 10 per cent of net income plus per-table and per-machine amounts under Article 1. Under Article 5 the proceeds are earmarked for citizen security: prison infrastructure and police equipment.
- Capital
- San Jose
- Currency
- CRC
- Official languages
- Spanish
Legal framework
Primary statutes
Law 9050, Law on the tax on casinos and electronic-betting call-link companies
Ley N 9050, Ley de Impuesto a Casinos y Empresas de Enlace de Llamadas a Apuestas Electronicas
- Year
- 2012
- In force
- Yes
- Summary
- Law of 9 July 2012, published in Alcance 111 to La Gaceta 156 of 14 August 2012. This is a tax statute, not a licensing statute, and that distinction is the whole story of Costa Rica. Chapter I taxes casinos: 10 per cent of net income, 60 per cent of a base salary per gaming table and 10 per cent of a base salary per slot machine, all payable monthly on a sworn declaration within the first 15 calendar days of the following month, with casinos confined by Article 3 to four-star-or-better hotels. Chapter II taxes companies dedicated to the reception and processing of data that generate electronic bets, annually and by headcount: 57 base salaries up to 50 employees, 85 base salaries from 51 to 99, and 113 base salaries at 100 or more. Article 6 leaves the permits and licences to the municipalities. Article 9 puts administration and collection with the Ministry of Finance. Nothing in the law authorises, licenses or supervises gambling itself.
Secondary instruments
Decree 20224-G (1991), regulation governing the granting of casino patentes and operating permits, as modified by Executive Decree 25228 (1996)
Reglamento que regula la Concesion de Patentes y Permisos de Funcionamiento de Casinos
- Year
- 1991
Executive Decree 39231-MSP-MH (2015), implementing regulation for Law 9050
- Year
- 2015
Pending legislation
Bill to strengthen and modernise the Junta de Proteccion Social and penalise the unlicensed operation of lotteries, games of chance and betting
- Stage
- An earlier version was rejected by the Legislative Assembly Security and Drug Trafficking Commission in January 2026 and a successor text was filed later in 2026. Not enacted at the date of review.
- What it changes
- Would give the State enforcement tools against unlicensed betting platforms serving Costa Rican players, including real-time monitoring, algorithm certification and software audits, and criminal penalties for unlicensed operation. It is aimed at the domestic market, not at re-founding the offshore data-processing model.
Licensing
- Licence required
- No
- Application window
- Not yet verified
- Local establishment required
- Not yet verified
- Local server required
- Not yet verified
- Barriers to entry
- Low, and that is the point. Costa Rica has been the default home of offshore-facing operators for three decades precisely because entry requires company formation and a municipal patente rather than a licensing process. The consequence for anyone reading this map is that a Costa Rican registration tells you nothing about an operator regulatory standing: no regulator has vetted it, no technical standard has been applied and no complaints route exists. Treat it as a place of incorporation, not as a licence.
Licence types
Municipal patente for data processing (not a gambling licence)
- Scope
- A canton-level business authorisation for a company dedicated to the reception and processing of data that generate electronic bets, most commonly obtained in San Jose. It is the instrument Law 9050 taxes and Article 6 leaves to the municipalities. It confers no gaming authorisation, no regulatory supervision, no technical standards and no player-protection obligations, and it is not a gambling licence in any sense a licensing regulator would recognise.
Taxation
- Headline GGR tax
- Not yet verified
- Effective date
- Not yet verified
- Tax base
- There is no gross-gaming-revenue tax on online gambling, because the State does not treat online gambling as a taxable gambling activity. Instead Article 4 of Law 9050 charges companies dedicated to the reception and processing of data that generate electronic bets an annual tax fixed by headcount: 57 base salaries up to 50 employees, 85 base salaries from 51 to 99 employees, and 113 base salaries at 100 or more. The fiscal year runs 1 January to 31 December and the amount is settled proportionally each quarter. The base salary is the figure defined in Article 2 of Law 7337 of 1993. Article 11 makes these taxes non-deductible for income-tax purposes. Land-based casinos are separately charged 10 per cent of net income plus per-table and per-machine amounts under Article 1. Under Article 5 the proceeds are earmarked for citizen security: prison infrastructure and police equipment.
Advertising
- Advertising permitted
- Not yet verified
- Affiliate rules
- Affiliates are not separately licensed. Because Costa Rica issues no gambling licence, a Costa Rican base is not evidence of regulated status for any promoted operator.
- Penalties for breach
- There is no gambling regulator for online activity and therefore no advertising supervision. This is an absence rather than a permission.
Restrictions
- Costa Rica issues no gambling licence, so there is no licensed online operator whose products are advertised under a domestic advertising code.
- Operators based here hold a municipal data-processing patente rather than a gambling licence, which confers no gambling authorisation and no regulatory supervision of marketing.
- Law 9050 of 2012 is a tax law rather than a licensing statute, and does not establish an advertising regime.
- Land-based casinos are treated separately and are confined to four-star-or-better hotels, with tables and machines authorised by the Ministry of Public Security.
- Domestic lottery and betting belong to the Junta de Proteccion Social.
Outlook
Two things to watch, neither of which is a licensing regime. The first is the recurring legislative push to strengthen the Junta de Proteccion Social and criminalise unlicensed operation aimed at Costa Rican players; a version was rejected in January 2026 and another was filed after it. The second is banking and payments, which is where the offshore model actually bites, since a data-processing patente gives an operator no regulatory standing to show a bank, a payment provider or a jurisdiction it wants to enter. Anyone treating a Costa Rican registration as equivalent to a licence is making a category error.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Costa Rica issue an online gambling licence?
- No. There is no gambling licence in Costa Rica. Operators hold a municipal business patente for data processing, usually from San Jose, and Law 9050 taxes them by employee headcount rather than by gambling revenue.
- Who regulates online gambling in Costa Rica?
- Nobody. The Ministry of Public Security authorises casino tables and machines, the Ministry of Finance collects the Law 9050 taxes and the municipalities grant the business permits, but no authority licenses or supervises online gambling.
Sources
- Ley N 9050, Ley de Impuesto a Casinos y Empresas de Enlace de Llamadas a Apuestas Electronicas (full text)
Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT)
Tier 1Accessed 5 Aug 2026Published 14 Aug 2012 - Leyes y reglamentos (casino and gambling legislation index)
Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT)
Tier 1Accessed 5 Aug 2026 - Ley de Impuesto a Casinos y Empresas de Enlace de Llamadas a Apuestas Electronicas
Sistema Costarricense de Informacion Juridica (SCIJ), Procuraduria General de la Republica
Listed as the canonical official location for Law 9050. At review the URL redirected to sinalevi.go.cr, which failed TLS certificate verification, so the law text recorded here was read from the ICT-hosted official copy instead. No claim rests on this entry alone.
Tier 1Accessed 5 Aug 2026 - Guide to gambling laws and betting regulations in Costa Rica
Altenar
Surfaced through search results rather than read in full. Used only for the Junta de Proteccion Social lottery and betting exclusivity, and for the widely repeated statement that Costa Rica-based operators must not serve Costa Rican residents or use local banking. Neither is stated in Law 9050 and neither was confirmed against a Tier 1 source at review.
Tier 3Accessed 5 Aug 2026 - Comision legislativa de Costa Rica rechaza proyecto de ley para regular loterias y juegos de azar ilegales
Tribuna
Reporting of the failed bill cites expediente numbers inconsistently across sources, variously 23.057, 25.057 and, for the successor text, 25.600. No expediente number is asserted in this record because none could be confirmed against the Legislative Assembly itself.
Tier 4Accessed 5 Aug 2026Published 21 Jan 2026 - Costa Rica: la JPS presenta un proyecto de ley para fortalecer la institucionalidad y combatir el juego ilegal
Yogonet Latinoamerica
Surfaced through search results rather than read in full at review.
Tier 4Accessed 5 Aug 2026Published 24 Jun 2025