Costa Rica: personal tax guide

What the tax system covers

Costa Rican-source income is the ordinary basis, with work location and the activity producing the receipt central to classification. A residence category does not automatically decide tax residence; digital-nomad treatment is specific to its authorised arrangement.

When you become tax resident

The investor, pensionado or rentista immigration category does not by itself establish tax residence under Law 9996. The source of local work and investments needs a separate income-tax analysis even where a person qualifies for a residence incentive. A foreign account does not change the place where services are performed.

Rates and the tax base

0%–25% employment and independent-activity scales. Employment uses monthly gross-income bands; self-employed activity uses annual taxable-profit bands. The 2026 employment exemption is CRC918,000 monthly, while the independent-activity exemption is CRC6,244,000 annually. Social contributions and investment-income taxes are separate.

Private investment gains and business trading

Covered capital gains generally attract 15% of the gain. For assets acquired before 1 July 2019, the first sale can qualify for an election using 2.25% of gross proceeds. Exemptions, source, real business activity and whether an asset belongs in the business-income regime matter; territoriality alone does not exempt domestic gains.

Asset cost basis on arrival

The arrival cost-basis treatment for this country has not yet been established in this comparison. Do not assume either an arrival-value reset or retention of original cost.

• The treatment needs to be checked separately for ordinary shares, funds, property, business interests and assets acquired by gift or inheritance.

Local business income does not inherit a blanket exemption

Law 9996 expressly preserves income tax on income generated in Costa Rica from local investments. It also states that holding the qualifying immigration category does not automatically make the holder a tax resident. These are distinct questions even where a particular qualifying income enjoys an exemption.

For a founder, map work location, customer location, employees, invoicing and distributions. Digital-nomad treatment concerns the approved remote-worker arrangement; it should not be transferred to an unrelated local company or to income outside the programme. Departure from the current country must be established under that country’s rules as well.

Source follows the activity that produces the income

Law 7092 connects local-source income to services provided, assets located, capital invested and rights used in Costa Rica. Nationality, residence of the counterparties and the place where they negotiate do not override that definition. An entrepreneur who personally delivers services from Costa Rica should analyse that work before describing the revenue as foreign merely because customers are abroad.

Remote-worker relief has a defined boundary

An approved digital-nomad arrangement should be documented against the programme's actual foreign-employment or foreign-service conditions. It should not be extended to an unrelated Costa Rican business or local customers without checking the rules. A pensionado or rentista route is a different immigration category, and the permitted activity and tax treatment need separate answers.

Foreign companies and income attribution

No categorical conclusion is published in this draft; foreign-income and entity substance rules need a separate current-law review.

Departure, migration and continuing obligations

Personal departure and corporate asset transfers must be analysed separately; no universal no-tax claim is made.