Closing costs on a Costa Rica property purchase usually come to about 3.5% to 4% of the price for a straightforward cash sale. That covers the 1.5% transfer tax, a 0.5% Registry fee, a handful of smaller stamps and the notary’s fee, which is set by law and carries 13% value added tax. The law splits the transfer tax equally between buyer and seller, and custom usually splits the other costs the same way unless the contract says otherwise, but in practice the buyer often pays most of them, so settle it in writing at the offer stage. Sellers have their own bill: capital gains tax, plus a 2.5% withholding when the seller lives abroad.
| Transfer tax | 1.5% of the price, or of the registered value if that is higher |
|---|---|
| Registry fee | 0.5% of the same value |
| Stamps | Agrarian, bar association and other stamps, together a few tenths of a percent |
| Notary fee | Set by law on a sliding scale, about 1% plus a fixed amount on most homes, plus 13% VAT |
| Typical total | About 3.5% to 4% of the price for a cash purchase |
| Who pays | Transfer tax split 50/50 by law and other costs by custom, unless agreed otherwise; often the buyer in practice |
| Seller’s taxes | 15% capital gains tax (home you live in is exempt); buyer withholds 2.5% if the seller is a nonresident |
| Deposit | Commonly 5% to 10% when the option to purchase is signed, held in escrow |
What closing costs cost on a $200,000 and a $500,000 home
The figures below assume a cash purchase, a price at or above the registered value and an exchange rate of about â‚¡456 to the dollar. The notary fee follows the legal scale for a property worth more than â‚¡33 million (about $72,000), which is 1% of the price plus â‚¡178,750 (about $390). Stamps are shown as a range because their rates depend on the property and are adjusted each year.
| $200,000 home / $500,000 home | |
| Transfer tax (1.5%) | $3,000 / $7,500 |
| Registry fee (0.5%) | $1,000 / $2,500 |
| Notary fee | About $2,390 / about $5,390 |
| VAT on the notary fee (13%) | About $310 / about $700 |
| Stamps | Roughly $650 to $750 / roughly $1,600 to $1,850 |
| Total | About $7,350 to $7,450 (3.7%) / about $17,700 to $17,950 (3.5% to 3.6%) |
Escrow, the lawyer’s due diligence, a survey, a home inspection and any mortgage costs come on top. If you finance the purchase, the mortgage deed adds its own Registry fee, stamps and notary fee, and the bank charges its own formalization costs. Ask your notary for a written breakdown, called a tasación, before you sign anything.
Why the notary fee isn’t negotiable
In Costa Rica only a lawyer can be a notary, and the notary does far more than witness signatures. The notary drafts the deed in an official protocol book, collects the transfer tax and stamps, files the deed with the Registro Nacional and answers for its legality. The fee scale, set by the Colegio de Abogados and issued by executive decree, is 2% on the first â‚¡11 million of value, 1.5% up to â‚¡16.5 million, 1.25% up to â‚¡33 million and 1% above that. Those are minimums, and the courts confirmed in 2025 that lawyers can’t legally undercut them, so a quote well below the scale is a warning sign.
When the buyer pays cash, the buyer usually chooses the notary, because the buyer has the most at stake in getting the deed registered correctly. When the seller finances part of the price, the seller often chooses, to protect the mortgage, and when a bank finances the purchase, the bank’s notary normally handles the deed. Many buyers and sellers each hire their own lawyer as well, and each pays their own.
How a closing works, step by step
The option to purchase. Most deals start with an opción de compra, a written option or purchase agreement that fixes the price, the deadline and the conditions, with a deposit of commonly 5% to 10%. Put the deposit in escrow, not in the seller’s or the agent’s hands. If you walk away without a reason the contract allows, you usually lose it. If the seller backs out, the deposit is generally returned and you may be able to claim damages. Spell out in the option what happens to the deposit if the due diligence turns up a problem.
Due diligence. Your lawyer checks the title at the Registro Nacional for liens, mortgages, lawsuits and easements, compares the survey plan with the land and confirms that municipal taxes are paid. If the seller is a company, the lawyer confirms that the person signing has the power to sell and that the company is current on its corporate tax and beneficial ownership filings, because a company that is behind can’t get the Registry certifications it needs, and unpaid corporate tax becomes a legal lien on its property. Our guide to Costa Rica corporations explains those filings. For a rural lot, water availability, zoning and forestry or conservation limits deserve the most attention, and a large property may need a surveyor or engineer.
The money. Decide early how the funds will move, because anti-money-laundering rules make it the slowest part of many closings. Expect to prove where the money came from, to wire it from an account in your own name and to sign a sworn statement on the origin of the funds. A bank can hold a large transfer until it is satisfied. Most buyers now pay through an escrow agent registered with SUGEF, the financial regulator, which releases the money only when the deed is signed. Our guides to escrow rules for foreign buyers and SUGEF registration explain who may hold your money.
Signing and registration. Buyer and seller sign the deed before the notary, the notary pays the transfer tax through Hacienda’s TRIBU-CR system within 15 business days of signing and files the deed electronically with the Registry. The transfer is final once it is registered, which is why the buyer’s notary should file the same day. A cash purchase with clean title often closes 30 to 60 days after the option is signed. A deal that needs a new survey plan can take longer, since the surveyors’ association reported in August 2026 that some cadastre procedures at the Registry were taking more than four months.
What the seller pays
Capital gains on real estate are taxed at 15% of the gain, the sale price minus the adjusted cost. A seller who bought before July 1, 2019 can choose instead to pay 2.25% of the sale price, but only on the first sale after that date. The sale of your habitual home, the one you live in, is exempt. Work out the tax before you list the property, not after you accept an offer.
When the seller is not a resident of Costa Rica, the buyer must withhold 2.5% of the price and pay it to Hacienda through TRIBU-CR within the first 15 days of the following month. The buyer is responsible for it as the withholding agent, and an unpaid withholding can hold up the transfer and bring penalties and interest. A 2% withholding on resident sellers, announced in September 2025, was repealed in October 2025 on the day it was due to take effect. The real estate agent’s commission is usually the seller’s cost and is negotiable, so confirm in the listing agreement whether VAT is added to it. Agents who regularly handle property sales must register with SUGEF.
Sellers should also bring municipal property taxes and the luxury home tax up to date and have the property’s value declaration current before closing. Our guide to property taxes and the luxury home tax covers both.
What can derail a closing
Most failed closings trace back to something that could have been checked earlier. These are the problems that come up most often.
- A lien, lawsuit or unpaid mortgage on the title that the seller can’t clear in time.
- A survey plan that doesn’t match the land, or a neighbor who has built over the line.
- An access road that was never registered as an easement, leaving the lot with no legal way in.
- No water availability letter, so the municipality won’t issue a building permit.
- Zoning, forestry or condominium rules that rule out what the buyer plans to do.
- A seller whose identity documents don’t match the Registry record, such as a passport number that changed.
- Several heirs or co-owners who must all sign, and one who won’t.
- A deposit paid straight to the seller instead of into escrow, which is hard to recover if the deal falls apart.
- Funds held by a bank pending proof of their origin, past the closing date in the option.
- A seller company with unpaid corporate tax or missing filings, or no bank account to receive payment.
- Furniture, appliances or fixtures that were supposed to stay and are gone at the final walkthrough.
- A request to declare a lower price to save tax, which is illegal and leaves the buyer with a higher capital gains bill later.
Put the inventory of what stays with the house, the deposit terms and a realistic closing date in the option, and keep paying for insurance and maintenance until the deed is registered. Our guides to avoiding real estate scams, home inspections and registering your property title go deeper on each step, and our main guide to buying property in Costa Rica covers the purchase from start to finish.
This guide draws on a column by attorney Jorge Montero B. He can be reached at acmbalaw@gmail.com or by phone and WhatsApp at (506) 8384-2246. It is general information, not legal or tax advice.
