QCOSTARICA – Driving on the roads in Costa Rica requires that your vehicle(s) have a valid circulation permit, known as the Marchamo.
The Marchamo has to be paid by December 31 of the previous year to avoid incurring late fees, interest and being pulled over by a traffic official and the corresponding traffic ticket.
Data from the national insurer, the Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS), the State agency responsible for the collection of the Marchamo, that includes the vehicle’s mandatory third-party liability insurance (SOA), among others items such as the vehicle property tax and others taxes and outstanding traffic fines, indicate that 1,595,821 vehicle owners had paid the 2025 sticker.
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However, at the last cut on January 2, 2025, 283,969 still owe the right of circulation and are exposed to fines. This figure includes vehicles registered but necessarily no longer in circulation.
According to the Policia de Transito (Traffic Police) of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT), a fine of ¢51,000 colones will be imposed on a driver caught driving a vehicle without the 2025 Marchamo.
“It is important to remember that as of January 1, late fees begin to accumulate, which are calculated according to the rates that have been defined by each of the institutions,” said Sídney Viales, head of Compulsory Insurance at the INS.
This is a monthly interest of 10% and 12% annually from the Ministry of Finance, plus a 36% late fee per year from the INS. Both the interest and late fees are calculated on a daily basis, meaning that if you do not pay your Marchamo today, it will be more costly tomorrow.
In addition to the traffic fine, traffic officials also have the option of confiscating the vehicle or or license plates. In the event of vehicle confiscation, the owner must pay ¢8,016.27 for the first six kilometers and ¢1,336.04 for each additional kilometer from the point of extraction to the impound lot, where the custody fee is ¢4,846.81 per day.
When license plates are confiscated, the most common practice given that the Policia de Transito only has a few tow trucks in its fleet and no agreements with tow companies for removal of vehicles, it is the responsibility of the owner or driver to remove the vehicles from circulation. The fine for driving without license plates is ¢26,070.
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Although there is an unspoken practice that the owner or driver fined for circulating without license plates will not be fine again while moving the vehicle, such as their home, another traffic official may issue another fine.
For clarity, after speaking to several traffic officials, it was mentioned that if a vehicle continues to circulate within their designated patrol areas and it is assumed that the owner/driver with confiscated plates is taking the vehicle home, no additional fines will be issued.
However, it can be a different story if the vehicle travels over longer distances or outside of the patrol area, such as from Guancaste to San Jose. Each officer has the discretion to determine their own criteria.
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