Costa Rica
countryCosta Rica taxes only local-source income, and occasional personal crypto sales on foreign platforms are generally untaxed — there is no crypto-specific tax legislation. Rentista residency takes $2,500/month of income or a $60K deposit. The catch: the favorable result comes from legal silence, so habitual trading could be reclassified as taxable local income, and the documentation burden sits with you.
Bitcoin tax treatment
No crypto-specific tax rules exist; under the territorial system, gains from occasional sales on foreign platforms are generally treated as foreign-source and untaxed as of mid-2026, while habitual or locally sourced trading could face the 15% capital gains rate or income tax.
territorial taxation: yes
Getting in
Residency: Rentista residency requires $2,500/month of income for 2 years or a $60K bank deposit; the inversionista route takes a $150K investment; pensionado needs $1,000/month of pension income.
Citizenship: Naturalization after 7 years of residence (5 for Central Americans and Spanish nationals by birth), with Spanish-language and civics exams.
Regime stability — the honest note
Favorable treatment flows from legal silence under a territorial system — fine today, but a single ruling or statute could reclassify crypto gains, and the tax authority has only issued piecemeal guidance so far.
Verified 2026-06-12. Tax law is paper, not bedrock — verify against primary sources before moving anything that matters. This is not tax or legal advice.