Costa Rican VAT on Stripe Digital Services in QuickBooks

A US company sells a $25 monthly software subscription to customers in San José. It has never registered with Costa Rica's tax authority, and its Stripe account charges no Costa Rican tax. Whether Costa Rica's IVA (its value added tax) is being collected on those subscriptions depends on something the company may never have looked at: whether its name is on a list that Costa Rica's card issuers check against every foreign card payment their customers make.

That list is the center of Costa Rica's system for taxing digital services from abroad. Registration is voluntary. Stripe's own Costa Rica entry says so: "Registering to collect tax in Costa Rica is voluntary if you're selling digital services to customers in Costa Rica." If you don't register and you are on the list, Costa Rican banks add the 13 percent to your customers' card statements. If you register, you collect it yourself, and Hacienda (Costa Rica's Ministry of Finance) takes your name off the list on a date the two of you agree.

This guide covers the two collection routes, how the bank list works, how to register with the Dirección General de Tributación (DGT, the tax administration within Hacienda) under the rules in force since September 2025, the start-date handshake that decides when Stripe should begin charging, the 13 percent rate, monthly returns in TRIBU-CR, paying by wire, refunds, a worked month, and what reaches QuickBooks. It is bookkeeping guidance, not tax advice.

Acodei brings Stripe Tax amounts into QuickBooks, so the Costa Rican tax you collect is already in your liability account when the month closes. Start a free trial.

The rules, and which ones are current

Costa Rica's IVA replaced its old general sales tax through the Ley de Fortalecimiento de las Finanzas Públicas, Law 9635 of 3 December 2018. Article 30 of the resulting IVA law covers what it calls the "percepción del impuesto sobre el valor agregado en compras de servicios internacionales." Hacienda's own summary of the regime quotes it: the law empowers the tax administration to collect IVA through the providers or intermediaries that make purchases of services "por medio de internet o cualquier otra plataforma digital" available to a final consumer, where those services "sean consumidos en el territorio nacional" (our translation; the law, the regulation and the resolutions are in Spanish, and every quotation from them here is ours). The same summary dates the start of collection to 1 October 2020.

The detail sits in two places:

• The IVA regulation, Executive Decree 41779-H. Article 47 names the two kinds of collector: card issuers as "agentes de percepción," and a foreign provider or intermediary that "solicite su inscripción" (asks to be registered) as a taxpayer.
• A DGT resolution. For five years that was DGT-R-13-2020. On 11 September 2025 it was replaced by Resolution MH-DGT-RES-0036-2025, published in Alcance 117 to La Gaceta 170 (PwC Costa Rica reproduces the published text; Hacienda's consultation draft matches it on every rule this guide relies on). Article 33 of the new resolution repeals the old one.

If you read about Costa Rica's digital services tax before late 2025, some of it is out of date. The old forms (D-1888 for providers, D-102 for banks) and the old ATV portal are gone. Returns now go through TRIBU-CR, Hacienda's new tax system, and registrations go to the Dirección de Grandes Contribuyentes Nacionales (the large taxpayers division). The article numbers below are from the 2025 resolution.

Two ways Costa Rica collects IVA on a foreign digital service

Route 1: you register, and you collect. The resolution says its purpose is to set the procedure for providers and intermediaries "que se inscriban voluntariamente como contribuyentes del IVA" (that voluntarily register as IVA taxpayers). Once registered, you charge 13 percent, file a monthly return, and wire the tax to Hacienda. Article 4 says registering creates no obligations beyond being an IVA taxpayer, and that it "ni representa la constitución de un establecimiento permanente" (does not constitute a permanent establishment) for income tax.

Route 2: you don't register, and the bank collects. Articles 15 and 16 make the issuers of debit and credit cards the collectors when their cardholders buy digital services or intangible goods online. The mechanism is a word match. A bank must collect "cuando... dentro de la trama transmitida durante la transacción, se encuentre alguna de las palabras o términos incluidos en la lista": when the transaction data contains any word or term on Hacienda's list of providers. The bank charges 13 percent on the total of the transaction (Article 22), on the cardholder's statement, at the moment it posts the charge.

The list is the switch

Article 17 keeps the list "permanentemente disponible" on hacienda.go.cr. Hacienda can add or remove names without a new resolution, by publishing the updated list with its effective date at least three business days ahead and emailing the banks.

Three consequences for a Stripe seller:

• If your name is on the list and you aren't registered, your Costa Rican customers pay 13 percent on top of your price, collected by their banks. You receive your full price and file nothing.
• If your name isn't on the list and you aren't registered, banks have nothing to match your charges against, and the resolution gives you no duty to collect. That can change at three business days' notice, whenever Hacienda adds a name.
• If you register, the list is how Hacienda stops the banks from collecting on your sales, and the timing of that removal is the most important date in this guide.

The word match also explains a practical point. The bank matches against the transaction's description, and Article 19 has banks keep its first 25 characters for every foreign purchase. On a Stripe card payment, the name your customers see is your statement descriptor, which Stripe says explains "charges or payments on bank statements" and runs to 22 characters. If you want to know whether the banks can match you, compare your descriptor with the way the list writes your name.

Should you register?

Registering means a monthly return, a monthly international wire, apostilled documents and a deregistration regime. What it buys you is control of what your customer pays, and invoices your Costa Rican business customers can use.

	Not registered	Registered with the DGT
Who collects	Your customer's card issuer, if you are on the list	You, through Stripe Tax
What your customer pays	Your price, plus 13 percent added by their bank	Your price with IVA, as shown at checkout
If you aren't on the list	No one collects	Not applicable
Costa Rica returns	None	Monthly, by the 15th
Stripe Tax setting	No Costa Rica registration	A Costa Rica registration, scheduled from your agreed start date
What reaches QuickBooks	Revenue only	Revenue plus a tax liability

A seller on the list, with a large Costa Rican base, has a reason to register: its customers are already paying the tax, just on a separate bank line instead of at checkout. A seller not on the list, with a few Costa Rican customers, has much less reason. That decision depends on your volumes and your customers, and it is one to make with an adviser.

The rest of this guide assumes you register.

Registering with the DGT

Article 3 sets the procedure. You email Notificaciondgcn@hacienda.go.cr with:

1. A signed letter stating that you want to register as an IVA taxpayer on digital services and intangible goods consumed in Costa Rica. The letter must say which mechanisms you will use to identify where your customers consume the service (the list is in Article 7, covered below).
2. The registration declaration (Annex 1, "Declaración jurada de inscripción en el Registro Único Tributario para servicios transfronterizos"), downloaded from TRIBU-CR and signed.
3. A contact person's full name, phone number, postal address and email. Changes must be reported within 30 business days.
4. A certificate of tax residence from your home tax authority.
5. Proof of the signatory's authority to act for the company.

Items 4 and 5 need an apostille (or traditional legalization) and an official Spanish translation. Article 3 gives you until three months after registration is approved to deliver the apostilled versions, and Article 6 lets the DGT deregister you if you miss that deadline. The resolution asks for a contact person, not a local tax representative.

The DGT then has three business days to flag anything missing (you get ten business days to answer) and ten business days to approve or refuse. Approval comes with a NITE, the Número de Identificación Tributaria Especial that you use to log in to TRIBU-CR, and one for your legal representative. Article 3 also says the DGT may decline to register a non-domiciled provider.

The start date is a handshake

Approval does not mean you start charging tomorrow. Three dates have to line up:

1. The DGT proposes a start date. Article 3 says the approval states the date from which you must charge the tax, and that date "no podrá ser menor a diez días hábiles" (can't be less than ten business days) after you are notified.
2. You confirm it within five business days. Article 5: if the DGT doesn't receive your confirmation, it "no retirará al proveedor... de la lista" (won't remove you from the list). If you need more time, you say so in the same five days, with a reason and a proposed date, and you then notify Hacienda at least ten business days before your chosen date.
3. Hacienda removes you from the list. Article 3 gives it up to ten business days after approval to take your name off the list, "de modo que no se efectúe la percepción a partir del momento en que el proveedor... inicie el cobro" (so that banks stop collecting from the moment you start).

The risk is the same as in Ecuador, from the other direction. If you start charging in Stripe before the list change takes effect, a customer whose bank still matches your name pays IVA twice: once at your checkout and once on their statement. If you confirm late, you stay on the list and the banks keep collecting.

Stripe lets you schedule a registration: add Costa Rica, choose Schedule tax collection, and enter the start date you confirmed with the DGT. Before that date, check the published list on hacienda.go.cr shows your removal from the same day.

The rate: 13 percent, on the gross amount

Article 11 sets the base for a provider as "el monto bruto de la contraprestación" (the gross consideration) for services and intangible goods consumed in Costa Rica, at 13 percent. Hacienda's summary ties the rate to Article 10 of the IVA law, the general rate.

Priced exclusive, a $25 plan becomes $28.25. Priced inclusive, the tax inside $25 is $25 × 13/113, or $2.88, and your revenue is $22.12. Our guide to inclusive and exclusive tax in QuickBooks covers how each posts.

Intermediaries (marketplaces that connect a provider with a customer) have their own rules in Article 11, including a 6 percent withholding where a local Costa Rican provider has already charged IVA. A SaaS company selling its own software is a provider, not an intermediary, and the flat 13 percent applies.

Stripe only calculates Costa Rican tax on products with a digital product tax code. Its entry says: "Stripe doesn't calculate tax for products that don't use a digital product tax code." See our product tax code entry.

Where your customer is: Costa Rica's order and Stripe's order

Article 7 lists the evidence a provider can use to decide that a service is consumed in Costa Rica:

1. the address where the service is provided
2. for intermediaries, the final provider's domicile
3. the customer's fixed landline
4. the IP address of the device used to buy or download
5. the mobile country code on the customer's SIM
6. the customer's registered address
7. the location of the bank account used to pay, or the billing address that bank holds
8. any other information that reasonably identifies the place of consumption

It then adds a tie-break: when the methods disagree and can't be reconciled, "prevalecerá el que se encuentre de primero" (the one listed first prevails).

Stripe works the other way round for invoices and subscriptions. Its customer location rules use the shipping address first, then the billing address, then the payment method's billing details, and the customer's IP address only last. Checkout uses the address collected in the session.

For most customers the two agree. Where they don't, such as a customer with a Costa Rican billing address who signs up from abroad, Stripe follows the address and Article 7 would favor the IP. Because Article 3 asks you to name your mechanisms in the registration letter, describe the ones Stripe actually uses. Our place of supply entry covers why the location test matters.

Business customers

Costa Rica doesn't carve business customers out. Article 1 covers services acquired "por parte de un consumidor final o un contribuyente del IVA," and Stripe's entry says that once you register, "Stripe will calculate tax in transactions to consumers and to businesses." Stripe's customer tax ID table lists cr_tin, "Costa Rican tax ID," with the example 1-234-567890, and marks its impact on tax calculation as No. Storing a Costa Rican company's tax ID puts the number on the invoice. It doesn't stop the tax.

The tax isn't a dead cost for that company. Article 30 lets an IVA-registered Costa Rican business treat the IVA a foreign provider charged (or a bank collected) as tax it paid, with the right to a credit under the IVA law. Article 29 says its supporting document can be your invoice, in English or Spanish, as long as it shows the transaction amount and the tax separately and names the business as the customer. Our input VAT entry explains the credit.

You don't need Costa Rican electronic invoices. Article 14 frees registered providers from Hacienda's authorized electronic receipts, provided your usual invoice shows, in English or Spanish, what was sold, the amount of each item, and the IVA charged. A Stripe invoice with Stripe Tax itemizes all three.

Monthly returns in TRIBU-CR

Article 10 sets the rhythm:

• One return a month, on the form "Cobro del IVA por Proveedores de Servicios Digitales Transfronterizos Inscritos ante la DGT" (form 158 in TRIBU-CR), "dentro de los primeros quince días naturales del mes siguiente": within the first fifteen calendar days of the following month. January is due by 15 February.
• TRIBU-CR only. You log in with your NITE. Returns filed any other way "se tendrán por no presentadas" (are treated as not filed).
• Two currency columns. The form has a dollar column and a colón column for sales, tax and refunds. Its instructions say a charge in any other currency is converted to dollars for the return. The form then shows a "total deuda tributaria en colones" at the exchange rate of the day you file.

For a seller pricing in USD, the dollar tax in Stripe's export is the dollar figure on the return. A seller pricing Costa Rican customers in euros or pounds has to convert to dollars, so keep the rate you used with the return. Our Stripe Tax filing currency entry covers what Stripe gives you for that.

Records. Article 9 asks you to keep, for each charge and each refund, the invoice number and date, subscription number, customer name and ID, the service, the amount, the IVA and the currency, for at least four years. Keep these with the transaction-level tax file described in our itemized tax export entry.

Deregistration. Article 6 lets the DGT deregister you if you fail to file or pay two returns, "sean estas de periodos consecutivos o no" (consecutive or not). It gives you ten business days to fix the default first. If you are deregistered, Hacienda puts your name back on the list and the banks start collecting again.

Paying by wire to the Banco Nacional

Article 10 makes payment a transfer to Hacienda's US dollar account at the Banco Nacional de Costa Rica (IBAN CR74015100010026188678, SWIFT BNCRCRSJ, beneficiary Ministerio de Hacienda, Tesorería Nacional), with a reference in the form "PAGO IVA-CR-" plus your name, ID, period and year. Three rules change your bookkeeping:

• The fees are yours. "El interesado deberá asumir la comisión correspondiente."
• Paid means arrived. "El pago se considerará efectuado en la fecha en que los fondos ingresen en la cuenta bancaria del Ministerio de Hacienda." A wire sent on the 15th that lands on the 16th is late, with interest and penalties.
• No payment plans. The installment facilities in Article 38 of the tax code "no proceden" for these providers.

After the wire, you email Notificaciondgcn@hacienda.go.cr so Hacienda can match the funds.

Refunds go on the month you refund

Article 12 handles refunds. If you cancel all or part of a taxed sale, you return the IVA to the customer, and you can apply the refunded tax on your return "correspondiente al mes en que se aplique la devolución al consumidor" (for the month you refund the customer), so the return shows the net tax. Form 158 has its own refund section for this. You don't amend the earlier month.

That matches how a Stripe credit note works: the refund lands in the month you issue it, with the tax broken out.

Banks have a mirror rule. Under Article 23, when a card issuer reverses a transaction on which it collected IVA, it refunds the IVA too, on a separate statement line. That is between the bank and its cardholder, and it only arises while you are on the list.

A worked month for a software company

A Delaware company sells project management software, priced in USD with tax added on top. Its registration was approved in 2026, it confirmed the DGT's proposed start date, Hacienda removed it from the list from that date, and its Stripe registration for Costa Rica is scheduled from the same day. January 2027:

1. 80 consumer subscribers at $25 a month. $2,000.00. IVA $260.00.
2. 3 new annual plans at $240. $720.00. IVA $93.60.
3. A San José agency on a $400 team plan, with its tax ID stored as cr_tin. Stripe still charges IVA: $52.00. The agency, if it is IVA-registered, can claim the $52.00 as a credit.
4. A refund of a December charge. A subscriber cancels on 6 January and gets December's $25 back through a credit note. The $3.25 of IVA goes in the refund section of January's return.

IVA for January: $260.00 plus $93.60 plus $52.00, less $3.25, is $402.35. That matches the Costa Rica rows of Stripe's export for the month, with the refund in January. The return goes into TRIBU-CR, and the wire has to reach the Banco Nacional, by 15 February 2027. The company's bank charges $35 for the wire.

What reaches QuickBooks, and what you book yourself

Acodei syncs the tax Stripe Tax calculated, so the Costa Rica registration in Stripe has to be in place first, and Stripe Tax has to be active in your Stripe account.

For a US QuickBooks company, Acodei's method is the Tax Product: a non-inventory "Sales Tax" product mapped to a liability account, with all Stripe Tax amounts on a sale rolled into one line on the QuickBooks invoice or sales receipt. QuickBooks' Sales Tax Center doesn't let third parties create official tax rates for US companies, which is why the product approach is the one that works there. Acodei's documentation notes this needs Stripe Tax used with Stripe Invoicing or Stripe Checkout. You file from Stripe's reports and pay from the liability account.

For a QuickBooks company outside the US, Acodei's documentation describes a second option: mapping individual Stripe tax rates to QuickBooks tax codes you set up, such as a 13 percent Costa Rica code.

The refund, item 4. Acodei's documentation says a refund issued through a credit note carries the line-level tax breakdown. A refund made on the payment alone may not show how much was tax, and that case can need a manual adjustment in QuickBooks. That is the reason to refund Costa Rican invoices through credit notes. Our guide to refunding Stripe Tax in QuickBooks walks through both cases.

The payment. When the $402.35 is due, the wire leaves your account for $437.35. Reduce the tax liability by $402.35 and post the $35.00 to bank fees, not to tax. If an intermediary bank deducts a fee and Hacienda's account receives less than $402.35, the shortfall is still owed, so check what landed before you close the month. The same liability account holds US sales tax and any other foreign tax from Stripe Tax, so note the Costa Rican slice each month. Our guide to reconciling the Stripe Tax report in QuickBooks covers the liability side, and you filter Stripe's export on country_code CR.

If your QuickBooks company isn't in dollars, the liability sits in your home currency while Hacienda receives dollars. Clear the balance for the month and post the difference to the account your accountant uses for exchange gains and losses.

If you aren't registered, there is nothing to book for Costa Rica. Stripe calculates no Costa Rican tax, your revenue is your price, and anything your customers' banks collect is between them and Hacienda.

Common mistakes with Costa Rican tax on Stripe sales

• Reading the 2020 rules. DGT-R-13-2020 was repealed in September 2025. The forms, the portal and the registration office have all changed.
• Assuming no registration means no tax. If your name is on Hacienda's list, your customers are already paying 13 percent through their banks.
• Turning on Stripe's Costa Rica registration the day the DGT approves you. Charge from the start date you confirmed, once the list shows your removal. Earlier, and customers can pay twice.
• Missing the five-day confirmation. Without it, Hacienda keeps you on the list.
• Expecting the tax ID to stop the tax. cr_tin has no impact on Stripe's calculation. Costa Rica taxes business customers too, and gives them a credit.
• Counting the wire's send date. The payment date is the day the funds reach Hacienda's account.
• Forgetting the apostille. The apostilled residence certificate and authority document are due within three months of approval.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do foreign SaaS companies have to register for VAT in Costa Rica?

No. Registration is voluntary for non-resident providers of digital services. A provider that registers with the DGT charges, files and pays the 13 percent IVA itself. If it doesn't register and its name is on Hacienda's list of digital service providers, Costa Rican card issuers add the 13 percent to their cardholders' purchases instead, and the provider has no Costa Rica return to file.

What is the VAT rate on digital services in Costa Rica?

13 percent, Costa Rica's general IVA rate. A registered provider applies it to the gross amount charged for services and intangible goods consumed in Costa Rica. Card issuers apply the same 13 percent to the total of a listed provider's transaction when the provider isn't registered.

How do Costa Rican banks decide which foreign purchases to tax?

They compare the transaction data sent with each card payment against a list of provider names that Hacienda publishes on hacienda.go.cr. If the data contains a listed word or term, the bank collects 13 percent. Hacienda can add or remove names by publishing an updated list at least three business days before it takes effect.

When does a registered provider start collecting IVA in Costa Rica?

On the start date in the DGT's approval, which can't be less than ten business days after you are notified. You have to confirm that date within five business days, or Hacienda keeps you on the bank list. Schedule your Stripe registration from that date so your checkout and the banks don't both charge the tax.

How often do foreign providers file IVA returns in Costa Rica?

Monthly, in TRIBU-CR, within the first fifteen calendar days of the following month. The return has dollar and colón columns, with other currencies converted to dollars. Payment is by wire to Hacienda's dollar account at the Banco Nacional de Costa Rica, with the transfer fees borne by the provider and the payment counted on the day the funds arrive.

Three Costa Rican details that decide your numbers

Costa Rica's first question is not whether your sales cross a threshold, and not even whether you are registered. It is whether your name is on Hacienda's list, because that decides whether your customers are already paying the tax through their banks. If you register, your Stripe start date is set by a handshake with the DGT and the list update that follows it, not by your approval. And the monthly mechanics are simple for a USD seller: the return has a dollar column, so Stripe's dollar totals are the figures you file, and the only extra entry in QuickBooks is the wire fee. Our guides to Ecuadorian VAT, Colombian VAT, Chilean VAT, Peruvian IGV and Uruguayan VAT cover the neighbors.

Acodei syncs Stripe Tax into QuickBooks, so each Costa Rican month starts from the liability account instead of a spreadsheet. Start a free trial.