Selling your Costa Rica property as a non-resident
Because you are a non-resident seller, the buyer must withhold 2.5% of the sale price and remit it to Hacienda before the transfer registers. That 2.5% is not an extra tax — it is an advance credit against your 15% capital-gains tax on the gain. Get the paper trail right and the surplus comes back to you.
Last updated 2026 · Tax rates and thresholds change — confirm the current figures before you list.
How much capital-gains tax do you pay when you sell?
Costa Rica taxes the sale of real estate at 15% of the gain, under the 2019 public-finance reform (Ley 9635). The gain is the sale price minus your adjusted acquisition cost and documented improvements — not the headline sale price. So if you bought for US$300,000, invested US$50,000 in real, invoiced improvements, and sell for US$500,000, the taxable gain is roughly US$150,000 and the 15% applies to that, not to the full US$500,000. The quality of your records is what decides how large that gain looks on paper.
Why does the buyer withhold 2.5% of the price?
When the seller is a non-resident, Costa Rica cannot count on collecting the tax after you have left the country — so the law makes the buyer the collection agent. The buyer must retain 2.5% of the total sale price and remit it to Hacienda before the transfer is finalized. This is a withholding on the price, not on the gain — and it is an advance, not a final figure. You then reconcile it against your actual 15% liability on the gain. If the 2.5% withheld exceeds the 15% you truly owe, the difference is recoverable; if it falls short, you top up. Either way, the deal does not register cleanly until the withholding is handled correctly, which is why it belongs in the closing structure from day one.
Three numbers that get dangerously confused.
The 15% capital-gains tax, the 2.5% non-resident withholding and the 2.25% legacy election are three different mechanisms. Online guides mix them constantly. Getting them straight is the difference between paying the right tax and overpaying — or triggering a registry hold.
| 15% capital gains | 2.5% withholding | 2.25% legacy option | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applies to | The gain (profit) | The gross sale price | The gross sale price |
| Who pays / acts | Seller | Buyer withholds & remits | Seller elects |
| Nature | The actual tax | Advance credit toward the 15% | Substitute for the 15% |
| When it applies | Every taxable sale | Seller is a non-resident | First sale of pre-2019 property |
| Refundable? | n/a | Surplus is recoverable | No — it is the final tax |
The 2.5% and the 2.25% are the two most confused figures in Costa Rican property tax. One is a withholding that credits toward the 15%; the other is a one-time substitute tax you can only elect in narrow circumstances. Confirm which — if either — applies to your sale before you list.
What is the 2.25% option — and does it apply to you?
The 2.25% is a transitional relief built into the 2019 reform for people who already owned property before it took effect. On the first sale after the reform of a property acquired before July 2019, the seller may elect to pay 2.25% of the sale price instead of 15% of the gain. For a long-held property that appreciated heavily, that flat 2.25% on price can be far less than 15% on a large gain — but it is a one-time election with strict conditions, and it is a genuinely different tax from the 2.5% buyer withholding. Do not let a listing agent or a forum thread collapse the two into one number. The holding-structure guide also matters here, because whether title sits in your name or a company changes how the sale — and the tax — is executed.
How do you actually get your money out of Costa Rica?
There are no exchange controls on repatriating proceeds — but escrow and your bank will demand a clean source-of-funds trail. Assemble it before closing, not after:
- 01
Model the tax before you list
Run the 15% on your real gain, the 2.5% withholding on price, and whether the 2.25% election is open to you — so there are no surprises at the table.
- 02
Assemble the source-of-funds file
Gather how you acquired the property and paid for it: the original escritura, wire records, and invoices for improvements. This documents both your cost basis and your AML trail.
- 03
Use a SUGEF-registered escrow agent
Proceeds are held by a regulated escrow agent and released at closing, with anti-money-laundering checks on both sides of the transaction.
- 04
Handle the 2.5% withholding at closing
The buyer retains the 2.5% of the gross price and declares it on Form 129 in TRIBU-CR (the current system since October 2025), remitting it within the first 15 calendar days of the month following the sale; the net is what flows to escrow. Confirm the remittance is documented for your later reconciliation.
- 05
Reconcile and repatriate
File your capital-gains return, settle the 2.5% already withheld against your 15% liability, recover any surplus, and wire the net proceeds to your foreign account with the paper trail the receiving bank expects.
Who works for you when a foreigner is the one selling?
On a resale, the buyer's realtor and the buyer's lawyer are structured to close the deal on the buyer's terms — including a withholding calculation that no one has an incentive to minimize on your behalf. With more than thirty years as a Costa Rican attorney and notary, and as the former Legal Director of RECOPE, I represent the seller: I model your real tax exposure, protect your cost basis, structure the escrow and the withholding correctly, and make sure the net that leaves the country is the net you are actually entitled to. That is the whole point of independent counsel — you have exactly one person at the table whose only client is you.
Closing costs, escrow & taxes
What you really pay in 2026, how SUGEF escrow works, and the tax on resale.
Company or personal name?
How you hold the property changes how it is taxed and transferred on sale.
Do you even need a lawyer?
Why your attorney must be independent — not the one the buyer's realtor recommends.
The Journal
More field notes for foreign owners on tax, residency and selling in Costa Rica.
Back to the Costa Rica attorney for foreign investors hub.
What tax do I pay when I sell my Costa Rica property as a non-resident?
Two things happen at once. Costa Rica charges a 15% capital-gains tax on your gain (sale price minus your adjusted acquisition cost and documented improvements). Because you are a non-resident seller, the buyer is separately required to withhold 2.5% of the total sale price and pay it to Hacienda — but that 2.5% is an advance credit against your final 15% bill, not an extra tax on top of it.
Why does the buyer withhold 2.5% when the seller is a foreigner?
Because a non-domiciled seller can leave the country before Hacienda ever collects. The law makes the buyer the collection point: when the seller is a non-resident, the buyer must retain 2.5% of the purchase price and remit it to the tax authority before the transfer is finalized. You then reconcile it against your actual 15% capital-gains liability and, if the withholding was more than the tax due, claim the difference back.
Is the 2.5% withholding the same as the 2.25% option I keep reading about?
No — and confusing them is a costly mistake. The 2.5% is a withholding on the sale price that applies because the seller is a non-resident, and it is a credit toward the 15% capital-gains tax. The 2.25% is a completely separate one-time election: on the first sale after the 2019 reform of a property you owned before that reform, you may choose to pay 2.25% of the price instead of 15% of the gain. Which figure helps you depends on your specific numbers and dates, so it must be run before you sign.
How do I get my money out of Costa Rica after the sale?
Proceeds are usually released from a SUGEF-registered escrow account to your foreign bank. Costa Rica does not impose exchange controls on repatriating sale proceeds, but the escrow agent and the receiving bank will require source-of-funds and anti-money-laundering documentation — proof of how you originally acquired the property and paid for it. The cleanest repatriations are the ones where that paper trail was assembled before closing, not after.
Can I reduce the capital-gains tax I owe?
Legitimately, yes — by proving your true cost basis. The 15% applies to the gain, and the gain is only as large as your records let it be. Documented acquisition cost, transfer taxes you paid, notary and registration fees, and capital improvements all raise your basis and shrink the taxable gain. Sellers who never kept invoices often overpay. This is exactly what a valuation session models before you list.
Do I still owe Costa Rican tax if my country taxes the sale too?
You may owe in both places, but you are rarely taxed twice on the full amount. Costa Rica taxes the gain on Costa Rican real estate at source; your home country may then tax it and grant a credit for what you paid here. Coordination between the two systems — and the timing of the withholding — is a planning question to settle with your Costa Rican and home-country advisors before the sale, not during the wire.
Selling as a non-resident? Model the tax before you list.
We start with a Strategic Valuation Session — a focused, paid US$350 consultation (there is no free call) to model your 15% capital-gains exposure, the 2.5% withholding, whether the 2.25% election helps you, and exactly how your proceeds leave the country. It is credited toward your engagement if we proceed.
Book a Strategic Valuation Session