Nobody is going to send you a bill. That is the first thing to understand about paying tax in Costa Rica, and it is the reason otherwise careful people end up paying penalties. In most countries the tax office or the municipality writes to tell you what you owe and when. Here, the obligation is yours to track, the deadlines arrive whether or not you noticed them, and late payment carries interest and fines from the first day.
Costa Rica overhauled its tax system in 2019 under Ley 9635, and moved everything onto a new digital platform called TRIBU-CR in 2025. A great deal of the guidance still circulating online describes the system that existed before those changes. Here is what applies now.
Income tax
Costa Rica taxes on a territorial basis. Only income earned inside the country is taxable, so a pension, salary or investment income arriving from abroad generally falls outside the system entirely. This is why the pensionado and rentista routes are attractive, and it is not a loophole — it is how the law is built.
If you do earn here, whether as a freelancer, a business owner or through a company, you file. The fiscal year runs January to December, matching the calendar year since the 2019 reform, and the annual return is due by March 15 of the following year. Filing happens through the Oficina Virtual in TRIBU-CR, using form D-101 for individuals with business activity and D-102 for companies.
Employees on a payroll do not usually file. Your employer withholds monthly and that settles it. The brackets are progressive, and the government re-sets them by decree each year. For 2026 they were adjusted downward under Decreto 45333-H, because the reference period showed deflation rather than inflation.
Older articles describing a fiscal year running October to September, with payment due in December, are describing the pre-2019 system. That is no longer how it works.
Value added tax
The 13% sales tax became a 13% value added tax in July 2019. The rate did not change, but the scope did — VAT now reaches almost all services, where the old sales tax covered a much narrower list. Rent, professional fees, and services you previously paid without tax now carry it.
Reduced rates apply to some categories including certain health services and education, and the canasta básica — the basic basket of staple foods — remains exempt. If you run a business, VAT is declared monthly on form D-104 within the first fifteen days of the following month.
Property tax
If you own property, you owe an annual property tax of 0.25% of the registered value, paid to the municipality where the property sits rather than to central government. It is payable quarterly, and most municipalities discount the full year if you settle in January.
The value that matters is the one registered with your municipality, not the price you paid and not the figure in the National Registry. Every five years you are required to declare that value yourself. If you don’t, the municipality’s engineering department will assess it for you, and you will not enjoy their estimate.
Luxury home tax
Formally the Impuesto Solidario, this applies on top of ordinary property tax when the construction value of a residence exceeds a threshold Hacienda re-sets each December. For 2026 that threshold is ₡143 million under Decreto 45358-H, and rates run from 0.25% to 0.55% on a progressive scale.
Two things catch people. The threshold looks only at the building and its fixed installations — but once you cross it, the land value enters what you are taxed on. And the threshold can fall as well as rise, because it tracks the consumer price index in both directions. It dropped for 2026. You declare on form D-174 every three years through TRIBU-CR, and pay annually by January 15.
Capital gains
Costa Rica did not tax capital gains before July 2019. It does now, and this is the single most common piece of outdated advice still circulating.
The standard rate is 15% on the gain. If you acquired the asset before July 1, 2019, you may instead elect a flat 2.25% of the total sale price, which usually works out better on long-held property. If the home was your primary residence, the gain is generally exempt.
If you are not domiciled in Costa Rica when you sell — broadly, if you spend fewer than 183 days a year here — the buyer is required to withhold 2.5% of the sale price and remit it, declared on form 129 in TRIBU-CR. Whether that settles your liability or counts as a payment on account is treated differently by different practices, so establish which applies to you before you close rather than after.
Corporation tax
Every company registered in Costa Rica pays an annual corporation tax under Ley 9428, whether or not it trades, holds assets or does anything at all. Many foreign owners hold property through a company and are surprised by this.
The amount is a percentage of the judicial base salary, which has held at ₡462,200 for five years. For 2026: companies not registered as income tax payers owe ₡69,330; those in the simplified regime, inactive, reporting zero income, or with gross income below 120 base salaries owe ₡115,550; between 120 and 280 base salaries, ₡138,660; above that, ₡231,100.
It falls due January 31. It is not deductible against income tax and cannot be offset against other taxes. Miss it for three consecutive periods and the company can be dissolved.
Marchamo
Every vehicle needs its annual circulation permit, paid between November and the end of December. You can look up the amount online, and pay at most banks or at INS. Unpaid traffic fines from the year are bundled into the total. You get a sticker for the windscreen. Traffic police check for it, and driving without one gets your plates confiscated.
Import duties
Anything arriving from abroad that is not covered by a trade agreement pays import tax before it clears customs, calculated on the C.I.F. value — cost, insurance and freight. Buy something in a shop here and the tax is already in the price. Order it online and you pay on arrival.
Vehicles are the expensive case. Import duty on a car is assessed on the customs valuation rather than what you paid, and the rate climbs steeply with the age of the vehicle. Get a figure before you ship anything.
If you are a United States citizen
Territorial taxation here does not release you from filing at home. U.S. citizens and green card holders must file an FBAR if the combined value of their foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point in the year — that is now FinCEN Form 114, filed electronically through the BSA E-Filing system, not the old paper TD F 90-22.1 that older guidance still names.
FATCA reporting on Form 8938 is a separate obligation with different thresholds, and filing one does not satisfy the other. There is no US–Costa Rica treaty preventing double taxation, though the foreign earned income exclusion and foreign tax credits generally do the work in practice.
Get advice before you need it
Thresholds move annually, filing platforms change, and the penalty for guessing wrong is paid in interest and fines rather than in warnings. If you own property, hold a company, or earn income here, a Costa Rican accountant costs less than one missed deadline.
Reviewed for the 2026 tax year. Thresholds, brackets and corporate tax amounts are updated by executive decree, usually each December.
