Costa Rica property tax for foreigners: on the way in, every year, on the rent, on the way out.

What taxes do you pay when buying property in Costa Rica?

Transfer tax of 1.5% under Law 6999, which buyer and seller owe in equal parts by law, plus a registry fee of 0.5% under the fee law. According to PwC (reviewed June 2026), the transfer tax is charged on the higher of the sale price and the registered property-tax value.

The 0.5% registry fee is from the fee law as reformed in 1998; confirm it is current with your notary. According to Punto Jurídico (2019), the transfer of real estate does not carry IVA because it is taxed by the transfer tax, while notary fees carry 13% IVA. All one-off costs: Costa Rica property buying costs.

What is the annual property tax in Costa Rica?

0.25% nationwide, charged by the municipality on the property value registered with the tax administration, under Law 7509. Each municipality decides whether it is paid yearly, half-yearly or quarterly. Owners must declare the value of their property to the municipality at least every five years.

• Declared value: it becomes the tax base unless corrected in the following period.
• Only-home relief: an individual's only property is exempt up to 45 base salaries, with tax due on the excess.
• Concessions: maritime zone concession holders pay property tax only on buildings and fixed installations. The land is covered by the annual canon.

What is Costa Rica's solidarity tax on homes?

An annual tax on homes, whether lived in, used occasionally or used for recreation, where the value of the construction and fixed installations exceeds a yearly threshold: CRC 143,000,000 for the 2026 period. Rates are progressive, from 0.25% to 0.55%. The taxable event is ownership on 1 January.

According to Hacienda's valuation office, the construction value is tested against the threshold first, and if it is exceeded the land value is added to give the taxable value. Owners file form D-174; the 2026 deadline was 15 January 2026. Maritime zone concession holders are taxpayers too. The threshold changes every year: it was CRC 145M for 2024 and 2025.

How is rental income taxed in Costa Rica?

Under the capital-income regime, rent is taxed at 15% after a flat 15% deduction, with no other deductions allowed. That works out to 12.75% of gross rent. It is filed monthly on form D-125, within 15 calendar days after the period ends. The regime has applied since 1 July 2019.

A landlord with at least one employee may opt into the general profits tax instead, but must tell Hacienda before the tax year starts and stay there for at least five years.

For a landlord who lives abroad, the position was not settled in the sources for this page, as of September 2026. PwC says a non-resident landlord files under the capital-income regime. The statute, though, excludes from that regime anyone who must pay the tax on remittances abroad, whose rates include 15% and a residual 30%. No Hacienda ruling settling it was located. Take advice before you let.

Do short-term rentals in Costa Rica charge VAT?

Yes. Owners of short-term rentals, called hospedaje no tradicional, register the activity with Hacienda, issue electronic invoices, charge IVA at 13% on monthly form D-104, and pay tax on the rental income. The host must also register with the ICT under Law 9742.

Intermediary platforms must register with the ICT as well. The rental rules in full: Costa Rica rental yields and rental rules.

What tax does a company that owns property pay?

The legal-entities tax under Law 9428, due each January as a percentage of one base salary: 15% for an inactive company, 25% for an active one with gross income below 120 base salaries, 30% from 120 to 280, and 50% at 280 or more. Companies also file a beneficial-ownership return.

In 2024, with a base salary of CRC 462,200, the amounts were CRC 69,330, 115,550, 138,660 and 231,100. The 2026 amounts were not verified for this page. Where more than 50% of the shares of a property-holding company change hands, Hacienda's 2025 draft resolution requires the transfer-tax form to be filed.

What is capital gains tax on Costa Rican property?

15% on the gain. For property bought before the capital-gains rules took effect on 1 July 2019, the owner may instead choose, on the first sale, to pay 2.25% of the sale price. A gain on the sale of the taxpayer's habitual home is exempt.

When the seller is not domiciled in Costa Rica, the buyer withholds 2.5% of the total agreed price and pays it to Hacienda, and the Registro Nacional cannot record the transfer until it is paid. Hacienda's draft resolution applies the habitual-home exception in that withholding only to sellers domiciled in Costa Rica. Step by step: selling property in Costa Rica as a foreigner.

Header photo: Tamarindowiki, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. All credits: image credits.