Video · From Costa Rica
US Company from Costa Rica: Is Your Work Still Taxed Here? (2026)
Running a US company from Costa Rica? Costa Rica taxes only Costa Rican-source income, but work done here counts as Costa Rican, whoever pays for it. 4:57 long, published .
Transcript
What the video says
0:00Can a Costa Rica resident own a US LLC?
It's early evening in San José, and Daniela has just shipped an update to the software she sells abroad. Her customers want to pay by card, and the big card processor doesn't take Costa Rican businesses. So she's wondering about a US company. On the American side, she can have one. No social security number, and no trip to the US. We're BaseAcross. We set up US companies for founders outside America, so we'll be straight with you. Costa Rica taxes only income from Costa Rica.
But work done here counts as Costa Rican, whoever pays for it, and that's the part to plan.
0:37Do you need a US company for Stripe in Costa Rica?
Does she need one at all? It depends on why. Card payments from customers worldwide are the clearest reason. A US company is often how founders here get the card processor. With an EIN and a US bank account, the company can apply for a US account there. It reviews the business, and it can decline. If you freelance for clients abroad, check where the work is done first. Services rendered in Costa Rica are Costa Rican income, whoever pays for them.
Daniela has the card reason.
1:07Is pay for work done in Costa Rica foreign income?
Here's Costa Rica's central rule. It taxes income with a Costa Rican source: from assets used, goods located or services rendered in its territory. Income earned abroad isn't taxed, if it isn't tied to the country's economic structure. So is pay for work Daniela does in San José foreign income? Not necessarily. Services rendered here are Costa Rican, so that pay can be taxable here, even when a US company pays it. You're resident after a set number of days here in the fiscal period, counting the days you arrive and leave.
These rules come from PwC's tax summaries, so confirm them with your accountant.
1:48Wyoming LLC or Delaware C-Corp, and an EIN without an SSN
The American part is simpler. A Wyoming LLC suits an owner-run business taking card payments or selling to clients abroad. A Delaware C-Corp suits raising from US investors. The company needs a registered agent, an address in that state for legal papers, not where you work. Then the EIN, the company's US tax number. Without a social security number or an ITIN, the application goes on a separate IRS form instead of the online tool. You don't need a Costa Rican company to form a US company.
Prices are in US dollars, so check your card's exchange rate and fees.
2:25Which US accounts work from Costa Rica?
Where can the dollars land? Founders living in Costa Rica can apply to a US fintech bank, because Costa Rica isn't on its list of countries it doesn't serve. It decides each application. A multi-currency account can give a US company run from Costa Rica US dollar account details. It reviews each business. Another US bank doesn't bar Costa Rica, but it asks every owner for a physical US address. Each provider decides for itself.
With a US account, Daniela can apply to the card processor.
2:58Can your US company be taxed in Costa Rica?
The second Costa Rican rule is about the company. Someone in Costa Rica who habitually concludes contracts for a foreign company can give it a permanent establishment. The company is then taxed on local income like a local company. The guide works one example through. Say Daniela's Wyoming LLC earns a hundred and fifty million colones of revenue, and forty million of profit, from contracts she signs and performs in San José. Concluding them here habitually can give it one. Its gross income is above the line for the lower rates, so the standard rate applies: twelve million colones. That's an illustration, not a quote.
Work for clients done entirely outside Costa Rica wouldn't be Costa Rican-source.
3:41Do you pay US tax, and is there a US–Costa Rica treaty?
On the American side, there's no income tax treaty in force between the US and Costa Rica. So US-source dividends, interest and royalties paid to you are withheld at a set rate, unless a US exemption applies. Pay for work you do in Costa Rica generally isn't US income, so nothing is withheld on it. A single-owner LLC with no US office or staff often owes no US income tax on it. It still files a report with the IRS when it has reportable transactions with you. Missing it is expensive.
For a calendar-year company, it's usually due in mid-April.
4:20What to do first, in order
Put together, the order runs like this. Start with your accountant: where the work will be done, and where the contracts will be signed. Both decide what Costa Rica taxes. Then form the company, get the EIN, and apply for the accounts. Keep a record of where each piece of work is done, and who concludes the company's contracts, and where. Put the IRS report and any Costa Rican return on one calendar. The full guide, with every source and a checklist for your adviser, is linked below. Each question is also in Spanish. And Daniela?
She's taking those two questions to her accountant before she orders anything.
The founder in the video is an example, not a customer. The rules in it were checked when it was made; the guide carries the current sources.
The guide
Costs, documents, timelines and the rules in Costa Rica, with sources.
Read the guide for Costa RicaWatch on YouTube