Countries › Costa Rica › Guide › 6. Taxes › VAT in Costa Rica: 13% on goods and services, reduced rates of 4%, 2%, 1% and 0.5%, reverse charge on services from abroad and monthly returns

VAT in Costa Rica: 13% on goods and services, reduced rates of 4%, 2%, 1% and 0.5%, reverse charge on services from abroad and monthly returns

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

Ley 6826, as restated by Ley 9635 of 2018, charges VAT at 13% on sales of goods and services carried out in Costa Rica, including imports and services or intangibles bought from abroad by VAT taxpayers. Reduced rates apply to air tickets and private health (4%), medicines and private education (2%), basic basket goods and farm inputs (1%) and certified organic products (0.5%), and exports and free zone supplies are exempt with credit. Returns are filed monthly by the 15th, excess credits carry forward, and exporters can opt for expedited refunds.

USD figures use the Banco Central de Costa Rica reference selling rate of ₡454.82 per US dollar published for 29 October 2026 (indicator 318 on bccr.fi.cr), rounded to the cent. The salario base for 2026 is ₡462,200 (Circular 246-2025 of the Consejo Superior del Poder Judicial, under Ley 7337 art. 2).

Key facts

VAT standard rate	13 %Ley 6826 art. 10, as of 2026-10-29 · in force
Reduced VAT rates	4%, 2%, 1%, 0.5% Ley 6826 art. 11, as of 2026-10-29 · in force
VAT return and payment	Monthly, by the 15th calendar day Ley 6826 art. 27, as of 2026-10-29 · in force
Exports	Exempt with right to credit Ley 6826 art. 8(1) and art. 21, as of 2026-10-29 · in force
Services from non resident suppliers to VAT taxpayers	Reverse charge on the recipient Ley 6826 art. 4, as of 2026-10-29 · in force

The rule

1. VAT applies to sales of goods and services carried out in Costa Rica, whatever the means. Services are carried out in Costa Rica when supplied by a taxpayer located there, when the recipient is a taxpayer located there wherever the supplier is, when they relate to real estate there, and for digital, telecommunications, radio and television services supplied there (art. 1). The taxable event is the habitual sale of goods and services, and imports regardless of habituality (art. 2).Ley 6826, text restated by Ley 9635, art. 1 and art. 2, 2018-12-03 official text · verified 2026-10-29

2. The rate is 13% (art. 10). Reduced rates: 4% for air tickets (on 10% of the fare for international flights) and authorised private health services; 2% for authorised medicines and their inputs, private education, personal insurance premiums and purchases of public universities; 1% for basic basket goods, agricultural goods and inputs along the chain, listed grains for animal feed, veterinary and farm inputs and reef safe sunscreen; 0.5% for certified organic products and inputs of organised organic producers (art. 11).Ley 6826, art. 11 as amended by Ley 10479, 10548 and 10256, art. 10 and art. 11, 2024-10-16 official text · verified 2026-10-29 · changed: Ley 10548 of 16 October 2024 added the 1% rate for reef safe sunscreen; Ley 10479 of 14 May 2024 amended the 2% rate on private education.

3. Exempt: exports of goods and related operations, goods and services for producing exports, services used outside Costa Rica, supplies to and between free zone beneficiaries, interest and commissions on loans, financial leases, regulated financial transfers and FX, residential rents up to 1.5 salarios base a month, and other listed items (art. 8).
Example: Residential rent is exempt up to 1.5 salarios base, ₡693,300 a month in 2026; above that the whole rent is taxed. / About US$1,524.34 a month.Ley 6826, art. 8, 2018-12-03 official text · verified 2026-10-29

4. For services or intangibles bought from a supplier not domiciled in Costa Rica, the recipient is the taxpayer if it is itself a VAT taxpayer (reverse charge, art. 4); the base follows the import rules (art. 14). On imports of goods, the base is the CIF value plus duties, selective and specific taxes and any other import tax, and VAT must be paid before release (art. 14). Foreign currency operations use the BCCR reference selling rate on the date of the taxable event (art. 15).Ley 6826, art. 4, art. 14 and art. 15, 2018-12-03 official text · verified 2026-10-29

5. VAT paid on purchases used in taxed or exempt export operations gives a tax credit (art. 21). Excess credit carries forward; taxpayers whose zero rated or exempt with credit operations exceed 75% of their creditable operations can opt for expedited refunds, exporters for automatic refunds, and non residents attending trade fairs can recover VAT on related costs (art. 28).Ley 6826, art. 21 and art. 28, 2018-12-03 official text · verified 2026-10-29

6. Taxpayers file and pay monthly by the 15th calendar day for the previous month's operations, even with nothing to pay or a credit balance. Independent workers, professionals, MEIC or MAG registered SMEs may pay VAT on credit sales up to 90 days after issuing the electronic invoice, or earlier if paid; large national taxpayers and lenders are excluded (art. 27 as amended by Ley 10144).Ley 6826, art. 27 as amended by Ley 10144, art. 27, 2022-03-11 official text · verified 2026-10-29 · changed: Ley 10144 of 11 March 2022 allowed eligible taxpayers to defer VAT on credit sales for up to 90 days.

Rate	Main items
13%	All other taxable goods and services, imports, digital services
4%	Air tickets; authorised private health services
2%	Authorised medicines and inputs; private education; personal insurance premiums
1%	Basic basket goods; agricultural goods and inputs; listed feed grains; veterinary and farm inputs; reef safe sunscreen
0.5%	Certified organic products and organic producer inputs
Exempt	Exports, free zone supplies, loan interest, low residential rents and other art. 8 items

VAT rates (Ley 6826 art. 10 and 11).

Worked example

A sale of services for ₡1,000,000 (US$2,198.67) carries ₡130,000 of VAT (US$285.83); the supplier deducts VAT paid on its inputs and pays the difference by the 15th of the next month.

Step by step

Register for VAT before starting activity (art. 5).
Issue electronic invoices showing price and VAT separately (art. 7).
Self assess VAT on services bought from abroad and claim the matching credit in the same return.
File monthly by the 15th; exporters with more than 75% creditable exempt operations should register for expedited refunds.

Common traps

Unregistered persons are registered ex officio and lose the credit on inventory held at registration (art. 5).
The return must be filed every month until deregistration, even with no activity (art. 27).
International air tickets are taxed on 10% of the fare at 4%, not on the full price (art. 11).

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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