Costa Rica

Last update: 2026-05-20

CR CRC₡ Spanish

Pros
Territorial tax system with exemption for foreign-sourced income for residents and international corporations.
Long-standing democratic stability and high levels of personal and civil liberties for individuals.
Abundant natural beauty and high-quality lifestyle options for remote entrepreneurs and digital nomads.

Cons
High social security contributions and complex labor regulations with significant costs for employee recruitment.
Inefficient public bureaucracy and slow administrative processes for permits and business licenses.
Deteriorated infrastructure and increased security concerns due to regional drug trafficking and petty crime.

Personal income

0 → 25%

progressive

Corporate

5 → 20%

progressive

Capital gains

15%

flat

VAT (standard)

13%

standard rate

i 5 VERY LOW TAX

i 4.7 DIVIDEND PIPELINE

i 4.5 HOLDING

i 2 CRYPTO HAVEN

i 2 PRIVACY GRADE

i 2 EASY CITIZENSHIP

─ On this page

01 Will Costa Rica tax what you earn? 02 Will Costa Rica tax what you own? 03 Is it easy to run a company in Costa Rica? 04 Is Costa Rica good for your holding company? 05 What does it cost to come and go from Costa Rica? 06 Will Costa Rica protect your privacy? 07 Is Costa Rica itself a liability? 08 Will you feel free in Costa Rica?

01/08

Will Costa Rica tax what you earn?

●income tax ●tax residency ●territorial system

YES, A LOT. On paper, Costa Rica taxes personal income at 25%. In practice, the territorial regime puts only locally-sourced income in scope: foreign salary, foreign dividends, foreign capital gains are left alone. The headline scares; the design doesn't. For anyone whose income arises abroad, the effective rate collapses.

Personal income taxi

0 → 25%

progressive · 5 brackets

Income simulatori

Income

Tax due

Effective rate

all-in

Marginal rate

Tax residence testi

184days

● 183-day rule

○ Economic interest

○ Family centre

○ Habitual abode

○ Extended-stay test

● Just one rule above is enough to make you tax-resident here.

02/08

Will Costa Rica tax what you own?

●capital gains ●wealth tax ●inheritance ●dividends ●interest

YES, BUT LIGHTLY. Capital gains are taxed at a low 15% in Costa Rica, but the country also applies an annual wealth tax (top rate 0.3%). Over a long holding period, the recurring charge can outweigh the realisation tax entirely.

Capital gainsi

15%

flat

Dividend taxi

15%

flat

Interest incomei

15%

flat

Wealth taxi

0.3%

flat

Crypto · tax regimei

Regime

UNREGULATED

Fallback rate

15%

Costa Rica treats crypto-assets as intangible assets. Under the General Directorate of Taxation (DGT) ruling MH-DGT-OF-0460-2023, gains are subject to a 15% Capital Gains Tax (Law 9635). While the country follows a territorial tax system, the DGT considers gains from residents as taxable if the activity is managed from within the country. Habitual or professional trading is reclassified as business income (Impuesto sobre las Utilidades), which for individuals follows a progressive scale reaching a maximum of 25%.

Crypto-to-cryptoi

TAXABLE

each swap counts as a disposal — gains realised at every trade

FATF travel rulei

NOT SIGNED

no information-sharing obligation on VASP transfers

Inheritance systemi

NONE

no estate tax · no heir-based duties · no succession tax framework. Wealth transfers across heir-classes are not taxed in this jurisdiction. Only standard probate / registration fees may apply.

03/08

Is it easy to run a company in Costa Rica?

●corporate tax ●criminal liability ●public registry ●VAT ●IP box

YES, BUT TAXED. Corporate tax in Costa Rica lands at a moderate 20%, but the legal frame is calm: no criminal liability for misuse of corporate assets and non-public corporate registries. The rate hurts a bit; nothing else does.

Corporate taxi

5 → 20%

progressive · +30% Standard rate for companies with gross income exceeding 119,629,000 CRC · +15% Branch profits remitted to the foreign parent entity · +15% Dividends distributed to shareholders (unless exempt) · +15% Capital gains on the profit realised from the sale of assets

IP Box · Patent Boxi

NONE

no IP regime · IP income taxed under standard corporate rules

Misuse of corporate assetsi

NO CRIMINAL LIABILITY

Civil Matter / Breach of Fiduciary Duty

In Costa Rica, the crime of 'Administración Fraudulenta' (Article 222 of the Penal Code) requires proof of 'patrimonial prejudice' (harm) to a third party or the entity. In a solvent company where the director is the sole shareholder, the 'victim' (the company) is deemed to have consented to the use of funds through its sole owner. Without harm to creditors or minority interests, the act does not meet the criminal threshold of fraud or misappropriation. Instead, it is treated as a civil matter involving the 'piercing of the corporate veil' (levantamiento del velo) under Article 20 of the Commercial Code, or as a tax violation regarding unauthorized distributions.

Shareholders privacyi

PRIVATE

Registro de Transparencia y Beneficiarios Finales (RTBF)

Directors privacyi

PUBLIC PAYWALL

Registro de Transparencia y Beneficiarios Finales (RTBF)

Incorporation costi

Limited Liability Company (LLC)

Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada (S.R.L.)

Government Registration Fees, Stamps, and Publication in La Gaceta USD 328

Notary Public and Legal Professional Fees for Incorporation USD 1,094

Total USD 1,422

VAT standard ratei

13%

5 distinct tiers in force

0.5% 1% 2% 4% 13%

Food & drink

food

Transport

air

Health

pharma

Digital & telecom

13%

digital

Agriculture

0.5%

farm inputs

Finance

insurance

04/08

Is Costa Rica good for your holding company?

●treaty network ●participation exemption ●withholding

YES, BUT THIN. Costa Rica runs a full participation exemption (100% on qualifying dividends and gains), but its thin treaty network (5 agreements) limits the geographies where the holding can sit without taking a withholding hit on the source side. Workable for regional structures, not for global ones.

Territorial systemi

Individuals

TERRITORIAL

Corporates

TERRITORIAL

Individuals: territorial — foreign-source income generally untaxed. Corporates: territorial principle — foreign-source profits generally exempt.

Participation exemptioni

100%

5% holding · 12 months min

CFC rulesi

NONE

no controlled foreign corporation regime · foreign-source corporate income out of scope

WHT · dividendsi

15%

non-resident outbound

WHT · interest

15%

non-resident outbound

WHT · royalties

25%

non-resident outbound

Tax-haven WHT

—

no punitive rate on record

Treaties signedi

active

Treaties pending

in negotiation

Tax treaty networki

origin · CR 0% > 0% no treaty

⌖

Inspect a country

Hover any country on the map to read its withholding-tax treaty with CR.

Country	Status	Dividends	Interest	Royalties

∅ // no treaties match

05/08

What does it cost to come and go from Costa Rica?

●exit tax ●territorial system ●dual citizenship

LITTLE. Coming and going from Costa Rica is cheap. The country runs a territorial system (foreign income stays foreign), and there's no exit tax on departure. You leave with what you came in with, plus whatever you earned abroad while you were here.

Exit taxi

NONE

no triggers active · residence change tax-free · no deemed-disposal mechanism

Dual citizenship

ALLOWED

naturalised citizens may keep their existing nationality

Citizenship paths

● Residence

● Marriage

● Birth

○ Descent

○ Investment

06/08

Will Costa Rica protect your privacy?

●info exchange ●corporate registries

NOT AT ALL. Costa Rica is a signatory to every major automatic-exchange framework: CRS, FATCA, CARF, MLI, MAAC. Financial accounts here will be reported to your home tax authority (Americans: FATCA is in force). Corporate registries stay non-public, returning a thin layer of opacity on the ownership side, but the financial trail is fully visible.

Multilateral reporting frameworks 4/10 active · 5 pending

CRS

2018

CARF

2024

FATCA

2014

MLI

2020

BEPS

—

MAAC

2013

GLOBAL FORUM

—

EOIR

—

CRYPTO-CARF

2024

CRYPTO TRAVEL RULE

—

07/08

Is Costa Rica itself a liability?

●blacklists ●FATF standing

SOMEWHAT. Costa Rica is flagged by one or two national tax authorities and sits outside FATF membership. Selective friction: anti-abuse rules trigger on transactions in specific corridors, and counterparties tend to ask more questions.

Blacklist exposure Listed by 1 authority

FATF

grey / black list

non-cooperative list

FRANCE

ETNC list

SPAIN

tax-haven list

PORTUGAL

favourable regimes

BRAZIL

low-tax list

08/08

Will you feel free in Costa Rica?

●press freedom ●crypto ●CBDC ●EU

PARTLY. Costa Rica scores in the middle band of the RSF press-freedom index (rank #36): civil society operates but the boundaries are real. Crypto sits in the standard regulated tier.

Press freedom · RSF indexi

36/180

score 73 · ↓ 10 ranks year-on-year

Central bank digital currencyi

Program	Status	Cross-border	Sources
Costa Rica CBDC Banco Central de Costa Rica	RESEARCH	—	announce →

Other jurisdictions worth comparing

Picked by similarity of strategic profile to Costa Rica. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.

PROFILE-ADJACENT Same shape, comparable overall friction.

Honduras HN → Panama PA → Bolivia BO →

NOTABLY MORE FAVORABLE Same family of strategies, higher total score.

Nigeria NG → Georgia GE → Thailand TH →

NOTABLY LESS FAVORABLE Same family of strategies, lower total score.

Djibouti DJ → St. Helena SH → Nauru NR →