Countries › Costa Rica › Guide › 5. FX and capital controls › Foreign loans and intercompany debt in Costa Rica: no FX registration, 15% interest withholding, 20% of EBITDA cap

Foreign loans and intercompany debt in Costa Rica: no FX registration, 15% interest withholding, 20% of EBITDA cap

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Last verified: 2026-10-29 · Status: Stable

Non financial Costa Rican companies can borrow abroad in any currency, receive the funds and repay principal and interest without central bank approval or registration; only SUGEF supervised financial entities must inform the Banco Central in advance of their borrowing. A loan disbursed in foreign currency with funds from abroad must be repaid in that currency. Interest paid abroad bears a 15% final withholding (5.5% when a supervised Costa Rican entity pays a supervised foreign lender, exempt from multilateral and bilateral development banks), and net non bank interest above 20% of EBITDA is not deductible in the year.

USD figures use the Banco Central de Costa Rica reference selling rate of ₡454.82 per US dollar (buying rate ₡449.44) published for 29 October 2026 (indicators 318 and 317 on bccr.fi.cr), rounded to the cent.

Key facts

Central bank registration of foreign loans by non financial companies	Not required; interest operations reported to tax administration and BCCR textLey 7558 art. 72; Ley 7092 art. 59(h), as of 2026-10-29 · in force
Withholding on interest to non residents (general)	15 %Ley 7092 art. 59(h), as of 2026-10-29 · in force
Interest paid by SUGEF supervised entities to supervised foreign entities	5.5 %Ley 7092 art. 59(h), as of 2026-10-29 · in force
Net interest deduction cap	20 % of EBITDALey 7092 art. 9 bis, as of 2026-10-29 · in force

The rule

1. Prior notice to the Banco Central of any borrowing in colones or foreign currency, and of bond or securities issues, applies only to financial entities supervised by SUGEF and regulated by the Banco Central (current and savings accounts excepted). Ordinary companies have no comparable filing.Ley 7558, art. 72, 1995-11-03 official text · verified 2026-10-29

2. Contracts and obligations that must be paid from Costa Rica abroad, operations made in foreign currency with resources from abroad, and guarantees of foreign currency loans disbursed with resources from abroad may be agreed in foreign currency and must then be paid in it.Ley 7558, art. 49(a), (c) and (d), 1995-11-03 official text · verified 2026-10-29

3. Interest, commissions and other financial charges, and leases of capital goods, paid or credited to lenders abroad bear 15%; interest paid by SUGEF supervised entities to supervised foreign entities bears 5.5%; credits from multilateral and bilateral development banks and exempt non profit organisations are exempt. These operations must be reported periodically to the tax administration and the Banco Central (amount, term, balance, maturity and rate).
Example: Interest of ₡36,385,600 to a foreign parent: ₡5,457,840 withheld. / Interest of US$80,000.00: US$12,000.00 withheld (US$4,400.00 at 5.5% if a supervised bank pays a supervised lender).Ley 7092, art. 59(h) as amended by Ley 10335, art. 59(h), 2022-12-21 official text · verified 2026-10-29

4. Net interest expense is deductible only up to 20% of EBITDA (UAIIDA) each year; the excess carries forward to later years within the same cap. Interest owed to the Sistema de Banca para el Desarrollo, CONASSIF supervised entities and supervised foreign banks and financial entities, and exchange differences and bank formalisation fees, are left out of the computation, subject to the tax authority checking that bank loans are not back to back with the borrower's own deposits.
Example: EBITDA ₡200,000,000: maximum net non bank interest ₡40,000,000. / EBITDA about US$439,734.40: cap about US$87,946.88.Ley 7092, art. 9 bis, 2018-12-03 official text · verified 2026-10-29

5. Argentine lenders: the investment agreement approved by Ley 8068 covers transfer of funds needed to repay loans (as defined in its art. 1) without delay in freely convertible currency.Ley 8068, art. 7(1)(c), (2) and (3), 2001-02-14 official text · verified 2026-10-29

Lender	Withholding rate	Tax withheld	Counts toward 20% EBITDA cap
Foreign parent or affiliate	15%	US$12,000	Yes
Supervised foreign bank, paid by a SUGEF supervised entity	5.5%	US$4,400	No
Supervised foreign bank, paid by a non financial company	15%	US$12,000	No
Multilateral or bilateral development bank	Exempt	US$0	Yes unless supervised

US$1,000,000 loan at 8% (US$80,000 yearly interest, ₡36,385,600) by lender type (Ley 7092 art. 59(h)).

Worked example

A Costa Rican subsidiary borrows US$1,000,000 from its foreign parent at 8%. Yearly interest US$80,000 (₡36,385,600). Withholding 15%: US$12,000 (₡5,457,840), paid by the 15th of the following month. With EBITDA of ₡200,000,000 the cap is ₡40,000,000, so all interest is deductible; with EBITDA of ₡150,000,000 the cap is ₡30,000,000 and ₡6,385,600 carries forward.

Step by step

Sign the loan in dollars if funds come from abroad (art. 49 makes it payable in dollars).
Price it at arm's length and document it in the transfer pricing file.
Model the 20% EBITDA cap before choosing debt over equity.
Withhold and pay the remittance tax on each interest payment or credit by the 15th of the following month.
Report the loan details requested by the tax administration and the Banco Central.

Common traps

Grossing up the lender for withholding raises the deductible interest base and the cost; budget for it.
Interest that is merely credited or capitalised still triggers withholding at the moment it is credited.
Back to back loans through a bank holding the borrower's deposits lose the supervised lender exclusion from the cap.
Exchange differences on a dollar loan are excluded from interest for the 20% cap computation, so a weak colón does not by itself trigger the cap.

Sources

Related: Costa Rica country profile · live dashboard · central bank and release calendar · our posts on X · where Argentina is involved, see The Argentine Thread guide

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