Expense rules in Costa Rica.
All DGT rules: 13% IVA, mission allowances and VAT recovery rules in Costa Rica.
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1Expense rules & reclaimable VAT
| Category | VAT | Reclaim | Cap / Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business meals | 13% | Limited | DGT representation |
| Travel meals | 13% | 100% reclaimable | Per diem cap |
| Accommodation | 13% | 100% reclaimable | E-invoice |
| Fuel | 13% | 100% reclaimable | Business records |
| Flight | 13% | 100% reclaimable | Public transport |
| Taxi / Uber | 13% | 100% reclaimable | E-receipt |
| Client gifts | 13% | Not deductible | DGT limit |
| Parking | 13% | 100% reclaimable | E-invoice |
E-invoice
Mandatory e-invoice since 2017.
Per diem
MNC standard.
Retention
DGT records: 4 years.
2Mileage allowance
| Mode | Allowance | Cap | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal car | CRC 250/km | By company | Standard practice |
MNC practice
Private sector standard.
Records
Date, destination, km.
Covers
Mainly fuel.
3Per diem and travel allowances
| Destination | Meal | Lodging / night | Daily rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| San José | CRC 15,000 | CRC 60,000 | CRC 75,000 |
| Senior executive | CRC 50,000 | CRC 180,000 | CRC 230,000 |
| Foreign — Panama | CRC 40,000 | CRC 130,000 | CRC 170,000 |
| Foreign — Miami | CRC 80,000 | CRC 250,000 | CRC 330,000 |
| Foreign — Madrid | CRC 90,000 | CRC 280,000 | CRC 370,000 |
MNC practice
Standard executive per diem.
Hotel separate
Lodging refunded on factura.
No statutory rate
No DGT cap.
4Foreign VAT recovery
| Zone | Mechanism | Deadline | Method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Costa Rica → EU | 13th Directive if eligible | Variable | Direct filing per EU country |
| France | No reciprocity | — | No agreement |
| United Kingdom | No reciprocity | — | No agreement |
| Switzerland | Reciprocity | 30 June N+1 | FTA Form 1222 |
| USA | No recovery | — | Sales tax not recoverable |
| CR IVA for foreign | None | — | No mechanism |
No B2B refund
No B2B recovery procedure.
Free zones
Costa Rica Free Zones.
Outbound
CR company can recover EU VAT.
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IVA 13%/4%/2%/1%, e-invoice OCR, MNC per diem, multi-currency CRC↔USD↔EUR↔CHF: all the DGT rules above are natively integrated into Illizeo.
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