Selling a Costa Rican house is not tax-free for a foreign owner, and it is not a flat percentage of the price either. The ordinary capital-gains computation is 15 percent of the net gain. Net means the selling price minus the documented acquisition cost, the documented improvements, and the documented costs of the sale, with an inflation adjustment. Receipts you cannot find are value you may not be able to subtract. Keep the closing binder from the day you buy. See Taxes and legal guide.
A sale of a primary residence, a vivienda habitual, can be exempt, including where a company holds the house and the company is clearly just the owner’s home. “Primary” is a factual test. A house you rent most of the year and visit at Christmas is a hard fact pattern. Ask the tax advisor before you rely on the exemption.
An older purchase, and a different option
Property acquired before July 1, 2019 may be eligible for a one-time option: 2.25 percent of the gross price, on the first sale after that date, instead of 15 percent of the gain. The details of that election are exactly where a tax advisor earns the fee. This page states the option as it is commonly described and asks you to confirm it against your acquisition date and your filing. It is not an automatic discount on every resale.
Whichever method you use, the price you declared when you bought is the seed of the gain. A transfer tax saved years ago by understating the deed becomes a larger gain now. The registry remembers the number.
When the seller is not a resident
If the seller is a non-resident, individual or company, the buyer must withhold 2.5 percent of the price and file Form 129 in the TRIBU-CR system within the first 15 days of the following month. The rule, under a 2025 resolution effective October 6, 2025, puts filing risk on the buyer. Late filing is the buyer’s problem even when the seller was the person who owed the underlying tax. Wire instructions at closing should show that withholding leaving for the Treasury, not for the seller’s pocket.
Do not describe this as “foreigners pay no extra capital-gains tax.” Residents and non-residents are not in the same collection system. The 2.5 percent is a withholding. It is not a promise that 2.5 percent is all the seller will ever owe, and it is not a promise that the buyer can ignore it.
Commission and the rest of the seller’s check
Brokerage commission is commonly 6 percent plus tax. On sales above about $2 million it is often negotiated. The seller also pays their own attorney. One large brokerage describes that attorney line as a minimum of about 0.5 percent plus VAT, and puts all-in seller costs around 6 to 8 percent before the gain itself. Unpaid property tax, luxury tax, and HOA dues are settled at the table or they travel badly. Treat 6 to 8 percent as that firm’s published picture, then read your own listing agreement.
Time on the market is a separate question. A May 2026 regional report put average days on market for Guanacaste and Nicoya listings at 361. Other notes describe both faster sales for well-priced homes and much longer ones for stubborn prices. The tax is calculated when you sell. The carrying cost is calculated every month you do not.
U.S. owners have a second conversation: foreign rental income, the foreign tax credit, and account reports such as the FBAR if a Costa Rican bank or escrow account crossed $10,000. Directly held foreign real estate is not itself a Form 8938 asset; an interest in a company that owns it may be. Those are U.S. questions for a cross-border CPA. The thresholds sit in the short answer on this FAQ. They are not Costa Rican law.