Costa Rica to introduce VAT on electronic services from October 2020

1 September 2020

From 1 October 2020, Costa Rica will introduce VAT at 13% on the provision of electronic services by non-resident companies.

At present, foreign businesses providing digital services in Costa Rica do not have to charge VAT on their sales. However, to remove the unfair advantage this gives to non-resident companies over Costa Rican resident providers, the Costa Rican government is proposing to implement VAT at 13% on these types of transactions.

This new tax will apply to a range of electronic services including streaming games, music, apps, films, e-books, e-journals and internet services.