Opening a company in Costa Rica: locals, foreigners, freelancers and digital nomads

At a glance: S.R.L. or S.A. with no minimum capital through a notary and the Registro Nacional in 1 to 3 weeks, 30 percent corporate tax with 5 to 20 percent brackets for small companies, 13 percent IVA from the first colón, territorial taxation, digital nomad stay for 3,000 dollars a month. Legal forms. Sole trader (persona física con actividad lucrativa): tax registration only, no capital. Limited company (Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, S.R.L.): quotas, one or more managers (gerentes), no legal minimum capital, usually CRC 10,000 to 100,000 nominal (about 17 to 170 euros); the usual choice. Stock company (Sociedad Anónima, S.A.): board of at least three plus a comptroller (fiscal), same tax. Registration. A notary drafts the deed and files it online through CrearEmpresa to the Registro Nacional; registry fees and stamps about CRC 70,000 to 120,000 (about 120 to 210 euros), notary by tariff about 400 to 900 euros. The company then registers with Hacienda on TRIBU-CR, files beneficial owners in the RTBF register, pays the annual legal-entity tax (about CRC 70,000 to 230,000, roughly 120 to 400 euros, by income band), takes a municipal licence (patente) and joins the CCSS once it hires. Everything in 1 to 3 weeks; total excluding capital about 700 to 1,500 euros. Taxes 2026. Corporate income tax 30 percent for companies with gross income above CRC 119,174,000 (about 205,000 euros); below that 5 percent to CRC 5,621,000 net, 10 to 8,433,000, 15 to 11,243,000 and 20 above. Dividends 15 percent withholding to individuals and foreign shareholders. IVA 13 percent (reduced 4, 2, 1 and 0.5 percent), registration from the first sale; the simplified regime (Régimen de Tributación Simplificada) for small traders in listed activities replaces IVA and income tax with a quarterly return. Self-employed income taxed at 10 to 25 percent above an exempt CRC 4,094,000 a year, 25 percent from CRC 20,442,000 (about 35,500 euros). Territorial system: foreign-source income is untaxed. Freelancers and the self-employed. Register with Hacienda on TRIBU-CR (form D-140), activate electronic invoicing (version 4.4), file the monthly IVA return and the annual return by 15 March; no flat-rate regime beyond the simplified regime above. CCSS affiliation as an independent worker (trabajador independiente) is mandatory: roughly 10 to 19 percent of a declared reference income by band, with a floor of roughly CRC 40,000 to 60,000 a month (about 70 to 105 euros). Foreigners. 100 percent foreign ownership, no residency needed for shareholders or managers, no restricted sectors beyond public services and coastal concession land; a company whose managers live abroad appoints a resident agent (agente residente), a local lawyer. Investor residence (inversionista): 150,000 dollars (about 130,000 euros) in a business, property or securities under Law 9996, whose five-year window ran to mid-2026 before reverting to 200,000 dollars, so check which applies; rentista: 2,500 dollars a month for two years or a 60,000 dollar deposit; both temporary for two years then permanent, government fees about 250 to 300 dollars plus the DIMEX card. Banks open company accounts for the legal representative in person with source of funds. Branch of a foreign company. A sucursal is registered at the Registro Nacional through a notary with apostilled, translated parent documents and a general power of attorney (poder generalísimo) to a representative resident in Costa Rica; taxed at the corporate rates on local-source income, and branch profits remitted to the parent bear the 15 percent withholding like dividends. An S.R.L. subsidiary is the usual choice. Digital nomads. Yes: the remote worker stay (Estancia para Trabajadores y Prestadores Remotos de Servicios, Law 10008 of 2021) for employees or freelancers paid from abroad with stable income of at least 3,000 dollars a month (about 2,600 euros), 4,000 to 5,000 dollars with family, one year extendable by one year, applied for online at the Dirección General de Migración, fee about 100 dollars plus the DIMEX card; foreign income is exempt from income tax. Changed recently. TRIBU-CR replaced the ATV tax portal (2025); electronic invoice version 4.4 mandatory (September 2025); transfer pricing informative return introduced (August 2025); tax stamps on private documents abolished (Law 10586); income tax brackets re-indexed for 2026; IVM pension contribution up to 11.66 percent (January 2026). Figures checked October 2026 from the Registro Nacional, the Ministerio de Hacienda, the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería, PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries and Costa Rican advisers; thresholds and fees change yearly. Confirm with a licensed adviser in Costa Rica before you file.