AI ObservatoryCosta Rica

Ministry

Ministry of Finance

Official website
3
live
0
pilots
0
planned

Executive summary

The state institution with the most ambitious tax modernization of the past decade. It combines measurable fiscal returns from AI (₡8,000M recovered in 2025), the integrated TRIBU-CR platform with e-invoicing v4.4 and SINPE Móvil integration, and the only operational citizen-facing virtual assistant in the central government.

AI projects (3)

Anti-fraud tax AI stack — Anomaly Detector + Atena

Live

Tax anomaly detection stack run by the Ministry of Finance combining three components operational in 2026: (1) Microsoft Anomaly Detector, in production since 2024 over the v4.4 e-invoicing receipt flow, identifying companies issuing fake invoices with no real operations (EFOS) and taxpayers artificially inflating deductions via third-party invoices (EDOS); (2) integration with TRIBU-CR, the tax platform operational since October 2025 that centralizes pre-filled returns and automated refund processing; (3) Atena, an AI module focused on the self-employed segment to monitor tax compliance over transactional data already captured by e-invoicing. The combined stack covers both general invoicing and the self-employed segment.

Live since: 2024

Virtual assistant for taxpayers

Live

Virtual assistant integrated into the Ministry of Finance's Hacienda Digital platform, designed to guide taxpayers through key tax procedures: filing returns, processing payments, and managing foreign trade operations (imports and exports). Available to any taxpayer registered in the Costa Rican tax system, it operates as a self-service channel to reduce in-person and phone support demand. It is the only operational citizen-facing virtual assistant in the Costa Rican central government; no interaction volume metrics have been published.

Live since: 2024

TRIBU-CR — Integrated tax platform

Live

Tax platform live since October 2025 that replaces ATV and Travi. Pre-filled returns based on e-invoice data, automatic detection of fiscal credits, automatic refund processing, and online payments via SINPE Móvil.

Live since: 2025

Adoption lessons

Where prior digital infrastructure exists (e-invoicing), AI yields fast returns. Where it does not, there is no shortcut: the Hacienda case is not replicable without that foundation.