How To Generate Income In Costa Rica | Remote working | Costa Rica Digital Nomads

Richard is the owner/broker of Coldwell Banker Tamarindo, and the founder of the vacation rental company www.viptamarindo.com. Please get in touch if we can help.
Generating income in Costa Rica/ Remote working in Costa Rica/ digital nomads in Costa Rica
Summary
One of the most frequent questions I get is how to earn money in Costa Rica. Most buyers with jobs at home, and initially only spend 4 to 6 weeks a year in Costa Rica. If they could figure a way to earn here they could accelerate the retirement plan and live in paradise
Tied to your home town until retirement?
Most people are locked into a place they would rather not be, with a long commute, expensive cost of living, bad weather. How can they spend more time in Costa Rica and still meet their financial goals? In Costa Rica the only foreigners here are the ones that have chosen to be here, so it is a very happy place with good energy.
Costa Rica laws on working:
If you are on a tourist visa or on a temporary residency visa you are not allowed to work in Costa Rica. Permanent residents have the same unrestricted rights to work as the locals. Here are 2 law firms that offer residency services. SFERA INVICTA
Sfera and Invicta are 2 large well regarded law firms offering residency services:
www.sferalegal...
www.invicta.le...
A common work around is to set up a corporation (it costs under $1,000) and then offer your services through your company. As a business owner (even whilst on a tourist visa) you are entitled to work in your own business.
Working as an employee :
Finding a job as an employee in Costa Rica does not make much sense. In the capital, San Jose, there are large corporations like Hewlett Packard, Cisco, Ebay, Adobe. But guess what, the reason those companies are in Costa Rica is because they only pay the management 50% of what they would have to pay their counterpart in North America. Plus you are in a busy city with traffic 1.5 hours from the beach. In the beach town the only real businesses are tourist related.
Remote working/ Digital Nomad :
Remote working has recently become enormously popular in Costa Rica. The time zone is almost the same as North America, it has fast reliable internet, brilliant flight connections to all the major hubs, great weather and zero commute time. All these factors make Costa Rica a perfect place for remote working. Post COVID, employers seem more tolerant of working from ‘home’, so why not make that home Costa Rica? The Costs Rica government is really promoting this option, offering a 1 year extendable visa for anyone working online for clients outside Costa Rica, with no obligation to pay Costa Rican taxes. Very interesting.
thecostaricane...
Buying a business:
This is the most popular option. Recently I sold a sport fishing business, including 3 boats all with long serving captains and a big database for under $1m. This fulfilled a lifelong dream of the 40 something couple. I just had a young couple barely into their 30s buy a lease on a cute boutique open air restaurant for very little money down. There is always a way. Other possibilities are a beach bar, hotel, spa, tour business.
I hope you found this useful
Tamarindo Rich

[@hittman1222]

Are you still posting new content? I've watched several of your videos and found them very helpful.

[@emilyeverything9924]

Thank you! Very informative.

[@michelefisher5171]

Great info. We need deeper info on this topic please?

[@cbtamarindo]

i will put it on my list for future videos

[@villacoya]

I do maintenance on a chemical plant. No way I can work remotely 😂 . What are the options?

[@RhynoSings]

Love to learn more about business opportunities. Really wanting to move down. Just don't want to be stupid about it . I'd be looking to move myself, and my family down. So establishing cash flow would be extremely important!

[@cbtamarindo]

[e-mail]

[@Yazeeee]

How much time does it usually take to be a permanent resident? Can it be arranged within the 3 months? (Whilst under tourist visa)

[@cbtamarindo]

Not normally. You should talk to a residency lawyer, not really my area.

[@brynecreekmore3570]

Your vids are extremely helpful keep up the great work mate!!!!

[@barco581]

Even though many US companies are trying to get workers back in the office three days a week, there are still a lot of remote jobs. I know people who spent months working remote in Costa Rica. I know it is not the same as fully moving there but it certainly is an easy first step that could avoid many pitfalls.

[@brynecreekmore3570]

I will be keeping you in my CR info folder for when we are able to come down for a long stay. You tell it like it really is and that’s what we need.

[@pristinepersians]

I'm about to get my TEFL certification for teaching English, but I also have sn MBA. I definitely don't want to work 40 hour weeks unless some of it is from home. My goal is to buy my forever home there. I'd definitely consider serving in nice restaurants to offset or teaching online.

[@angelawear-joyfromtheheart1179]

Thank you so much for your videos! My husband and I are coming down in the next month or so and are so excited! We are already looking from Michigan/USA at restaurants we could by beachside on the west coast on line. We are thinking we would like to retire early down there. As a realtor do you help people find the right restaurant for them to buy? The other thing I was wondering is if you see people making much money on there air bnb’s? We have also thought about buying a place that has a second building on it to rent out in that way. We would love it 😍 f you could help us!

[@douglacoursiere2269]

Great video. On your power issues, you are talking about a UPS? They are an Uninterrupted Power Supply. The other option would be a solar power system with an inverter duty controller. We have one on our house on the Montezuma area and we can basically run our whole house on it, except for a few 240 volt appliances. If there is a power issue, we never know , unless the oven click starts blinking 12:00. I actually had to install an alarm to let us know at night that the power was off so we don't run our batteries down if the room A/C is on. During the hot days we can run a/c units in the bedroom to cool us down for free on solar. The system also saves any electronics or appliances from power issue. Our neighbors have damaged alot of electronics and appliances due to brown outs and spikes.

[@laurel1865]

Such great information! ❤

[@hijodetupa]

dude would help a lot if you talk through a closer microphone. Is difficult to hear all videos with the echo :)

[@laurel1865]

Thankful I found your channel. I went to Costa Rica 5 years ago and loved it. We are going back for 8 weeks next month. My plan is to move there, which is why I booked such a long stay. All the American/English speaking channels in Costa Rica discuss car rentals. But there is a channel in Spanish (Mateo y Lisanna) who got around Costa Rica without a car. I’m wondering if renting a car is a total necessity? We will stay in San José a week and I figured we could get around on foot and public transportation. Then we were going to Arenal etc. basically we will stay in selected cities for around a week at a time. At some point we will rent a car, but not for the entire 8 weeks. Is this doable? If it matters I am conversational in Spanish , so I am able to negotiate en español.

[@knHebrew]

How can you get a medical job?

[@calicocookietv7994]

Thanks for the information! Very helpful!

[@machellechandler9106]

I’m loving your realistic videos! Thanks for giving a frank appraisal of living in CR.

[@manifestmyreality2025]

help!! I need to get the hell out of Canada, cannot afford to live here anymore, where do I start?

[@cbtamarindo]

Feel free to contact my ISA Julia Henkel on [e-mail]. She will be able to assist you and answer all the question related to relocating.

[@jasonjohnson3516]

How much does it cost on average for attorney fees, and additional costs to start a business in Costa Rica. I want to provide multiple construction and consulting services without brick and mortar. I have been a licensed general contractor specializing in renewable energy in Los Angeles for 14 years and I’m ready to come to Costa Rica to build sustainable projects for expats while hiring and training local people and pay them well. I know right now Real estate and construction costs are very high in Costa Rica but I know a lot of people that are working in construction in this area or taken advantage of supply and demand making enormous amounts of profit and not giving that back to the people which is very sad

[@cbtamarindo]

It is a good project. Good luck. The worker rights are in general respected in Costa Rica and the law is on the side of the employee. There are strict minimum wages here too. When you get illegals from Nicaragua they are paid cash and sometimes paid below the minimum. A lawyer will set you up with a corporation for $1000 or so

[@shameshotproduction]

Great video, will have to do some more school to get my career in line to do something from my computer.

[@kaspermagnusson3780]

Hey! Do you know if there is any need for graphic designers in your area? Thanks!

[@mslikenootha]

I’d love to do business there with my youth nonprofit for phonics and reading. I’m established in Las Vegas and Detroit already.

[@katherinefields3665]

Looking for a home to buy so I can make the move. Looks like the CR Pres will sign off on passing the new tax law....

[@cbtamarindo]

Email me [e-mail]

[@saraellenjones]

Do US citizens operating a business in CR have to pay income tax in both countries?

[@cbtamarindo]

They have a dual tax agreement, so you only pay tax once

[@arthurschilling5651]

Amazing Video! When you say “a million”, what currency are we talking??

[@greent2512]

Thanks Arthur. All property deals in Costa Rica are done in US Dollars.

[@Concretesculpture]

Amazing videos!! Thanks so much for making the effort!

[@carocavallini6409]

great video Richard!

[@vladimirskrbic5957]

Thank you for the great content Rich!

[@DonovanTwaddle]

Great video, Rich! Can an expat easily operate an Airbnb there?

[@jilliangirard3366]

Awesome stuff! Thanks Rich!

[@magicdoty]

Did the one year work visa go in to affect yet?

[@MilaDanceSport]

Very helpful! Thank you!

[@klorenalorena2725]

Enjoyed your videos. I am hoping to do my 1st trip to Costa Rica between March and May.

[@Deportee1077]

Hey Rich thanks for all the content. I had a few questions about something you said in this video. I'll reach out via email hope that's OK. Thanks again

[@cbtamarindo]

[e-mail]

[@Deportee1077]

@@cbtamarindo thank you , I will reach out.

[@beja3387]

Which power box works best? Does it matter if you're on an Apple/Mac vs android? Where do you find the best WiFi? Cell coverage? etc?

[@cbtamarindo]

Wifi is fast in most places you would want to go to. I have mac and android and they both work very well

[@richardoostra]

Amazing Thankyou Rich, what is your email please?

[@cbtamarindo]

[e-mail]

[@MamaSwiss1]

Hi Rich I am enjoying your video clips. My 3rd visit down is in January.

[@cbtamarindo]

Great, get in touch. [e-mail]

[@shawnfry6300]

How do I hook up with locals to help me determine if I want to move to Tamarindo

[@jenniferwyatt8945]

Just go for a week- you will find them

[@cjbobo66]

Thank you so much for all your videos so much knowledge for free

[@johncifrese1739]

Hi Richard, thanks for all your info. So question if you have no debt meaning you paid out right for a house or built one what is a reasonable monthly budget to live in Tamarindo area?

[@cbtamarindo]

I did a video on this subject, insider guide to the real cost of living

[@safia9536]

Click bait.

[@cbtamarindo]

Please elaborate. I tried to make it relevant and full of useful information. Sorry if you dont agree. Thanks