Buying real estate in Costa Rica? Want to know how Costa Rica real estate tax laws will affect you? Our guide gives you the facts & information you want to know.
Costa Rica has seen a vast increase in the amount of foreign investors looking to make money in real estate over the past decade or so. One of the many attractions Costa Rica holds for potential foreign investors is its liberal real estate tax laws.
When selling real estate in Costa Rica there is a standard tax of 1.5% of the value of the property imposed. In addition to this there are various stamps that need to accompany the final title deed which end up costing about another 1% of the recorded real estate value in Costa Rica.
Although there are minor procedural differences regarding the payment of real estate tax in Costa Rica depending on which area you are in, the basic rate of tax on real estate is 0.25% of the total recorded value of the property. This applies to all of Costa Rica.
Costa Rica Property Tax
As the real estate markets in the US and other developed countries become saturated and slow down, people are looking to make investments in new markets where they can get in at the beginning of the real estate boom which is when the real big money is made. Costa Rica is seen by many in the know as the place to invest in real estate and despite the fact that real estate prices are already soaring at incredible rate in some choice areas of Costa Rica, it is still a widely held belief in amongst real estate investors in the know that Costa Rica has yet to see it’s its major property boom.
Taxation in Costa Rica
There are several reasons why Costa Rica is seen as such an appealing place to invest in real estate presently. The immense natural beauty of Costa Rica’s beaches, national parks, rainforests and agricultural plantation in the Central Valley all help to ensure that Costa Rica is a destination that will remain popular with real estate buyers and tourists for decades to come. However, although beautiful, Costa Rica is not the only country with scenic landscapes and cheap land for sale. In fact, most countries in Central and South America have climates and natural scenery comparable to Costa Rica.
What makes Costa Rica so attractive for foreign investment is the stability of the government and the wise financial policies it has implemented in order to boost the local economy. Amongst these prudent policies are the real estate tax laws which are pro business and allow for any investor, whether local or foreign to make money through buying and selling real estate without having to be bogged down with excess red tape and frustrating administrative procedures.
