Can a US LLC Own Property in Costa Rica? (2026)

Many American buyers already own their rental properties at home through a Delaware, Wyoming or Florida LLC, so the first question they ask about Nosara is a natural one: can a US LLC own property in Costa Rica, or do I need a Costa Rican company? The short answer is yes, a US LLC can hold title in Costa Rica, but it does not get to skip Costa Rican paperwork. The moment a foreign company appears in the Registro Nacional, it picks up local obligations that most US owners never expect, and it changes how the IRS sees the property too. This guide walks through the four realistic ways to hold a Nosara home, what each one costs you in annual compliance, and which one fits which kind of buyer.

Key insight: The choice is rarely "US LLC or no paperwork." It is a choice between three sets of filings: Costa Rican only, US only, or both. The cheapest structure is the one whose filings you will actually keep current every year.

This is general information for buyers, not legal or tax advice. Every structure below should be confirmed with a Costa Rican attorney and a US cross-border tax preparer before you sign an option agreement. If you have not picked a lawyer yet, start with our guide to hiring a real estate lawyer in Nosara.

Can a US LLC Own Property in Costa Rica? What the Registry Requires

Costa Rica does not restrict foreign ownership of titled property, and a foreign legal entity can appear on title just as a foreign individual can. The catch is in how the company proves it exists and who signs for it.

According to a Registro de Personas Jurídicas presentation published by Costa Rica's Registro Nacional, foreign companies can act in the country through an apoderado (an appointed attorney-in-fact) under articles 226 and 232 of the Código de Comercio. That presentation lists what the power of attorney must contain:

The foreign company's purpose, capital, the names of its officers and its term
A statement that the company and its representative submit to Costa Rican law
The appointment of a resident agent (agente residente), required by article 232
Formal execution in a public deed, either before a Costa Rican notary or consul, or before a foreign notary with an apostille

The same Registro Nacional presentation notes that Costa Rica joined the Hague Apostille Convention through Law 8923 and has accepted apostilled documents since December 14, 2011. For an American LLC, that means your state's certificate of good standing and the power of attorney can usually be apostilled by your Secretary of State rather than legalized through a consulate.

The 3-012 cédula jurídica

To be recorded as an owner, a foreign company is assigned a Costa Rican corporate ID number. The Registro Nacional's published list of cédula jurídica types identifies 3-012 as the class for a sociedad extranjera (foreign company). A US LLC that owns Nosara property ends up with one of these numbers.

That number is where the surprises start. In an April 2022 article in La República, Natalia Ramírez of Grant Thornton explained that Costa Rica's tax authority had taken the position that foreign entities holding a 3-012 cédula must comply with the beneficial ownership registry under Law 9416 and pay the annual corporate tax under Law 9428, for as long as that cédula stays active. Law 10160, passed in 2022, gave inactive foreign entities a way to request deletion of the number, but an LLC that still owns a Nosara house is not inactive in any useful sense. It needs the cédula to stay on title.

💡 Key insight: A US LLC on a Nosara title is legally possible, but it is treated as a foreign company with a Costa Rican ID, and that ID carries Costa Rican annual filings just like a local SRL.

The Annual Costa Rican Obligations That Follow Any Company on Title

Whether the owner is a US LLC with a 3-012 number or a Costa Rican SRL or SA, the same two annual items show up. We cover the full calendar in our Costa Rica corporation annual filings guide; here is the short version as it applies to this decision.

1. Impuesto a las Personas Jurídicas (annual corporate tax)

BDO Costa Rica published the 2026 figures in January 2026. The tax is pegged to a base salary of ₡462,200 and ranges by the company's status:

Company status (per BDO Costa Rica, 2026)	Share of base salary	2026 amount
Inactive company	15%	₡69,330
Gross income under 120 base salaries, or simplified regime	25%	₡115,550
Gross income from 120 to 280 base salaries	30%	₡138,660
Gross income of 280 base salaries or more	50%	₡231,100

BDO lists "sociedades de una sucursal extranjera o su representante legal" among the payers, and notes the 2026 payment was due by January 31, 2026. BDO also points out that under Law 9428 a company that fails to pay for three consecutive periods can be dissolved. For a company that holds your house, dissolution is not a paperwork annoyance. It puts the ownership of the asset in question.

2. RTBF beneficial ownership declaration

The Registro de Transparencia y Beneficiarios Finales (RTBF) is filed through the Central Bank's Central Directo platform. A guide published in April 2026 by costarica-immigration.com lists "foreign companies with Costa Rica cédula jurídica" as obligated entities under article 13 of resolution DGT-ICD-R-06-2020. The same guide sets out the timing:

Annual declaration: every April
New entity: within 20 business days of receiving the cédula jurídica
Ownership change that crosses the 15% threshold: an extraordinary declaration within 15 business days of the change being recorded

AG Legal, in its 2026 to 2027 RTBF guide, explains that the penalty under article 84 bis of the Tax Code is 2% of gross income, with a minimum of three base salaries and a maximum of 100. AG Legal also notes that a non-compliant company can be blocked from getting legal-standing certificates or registering documents, which is exactly what you need when you sell.

The filing also requires a Costa Rican digital signature held by the legal representative, or, as AG Legal describes, a registered generalísimo power given to someone who has one. Most foreign owners end up paying a local firm to file. If your US LLC's manager lives in Texas, budget for that from day one.

💡 Key insight: A US LLC does not escape the Costa Rican annual corporate tax or the RTBF. If you are going to carry those filings anyway, the real question becomes what the US LLC adds on top.

How the IRS Sees Each Structure

This is the part most Nosara buyers skip, and it is where the structures genuinely differ.

A US LLC is a domestic entity for US tax purposes

A single-member US LLC is normally disregarded for federal income tax, so the Nosara rental shows up on your personal return. Because the LLC is a US entity, it is not a "foreign entity" for reporting purposes. That matters for Form 8938.

The IRS states in its Form 8938 questions and answers that foreign real estate held directly is not a specified foreign financial asset: "a personal residence or a rental property does not have to be reported." The IRS goes on to say that if the real estate is held through a foreign entity, such as a corporation, the interest in that entity is reportable on Form 8938 when you are over the filing threshold.

On the US side, the Corporate Transparency Act is no longer a factor for most American LLCs. FinCEN and the US Treasury announced on August 11, 2026 a final rule that permanently exempts US companies and US persons from beneficial ownership information reporting, making permanent the March 2025 interim rule.

A Costa Rican SA is a corporation the IRS will not let you look through

Treasury Regulation 26 CFR 301.7701-2(b)(8), published by Cornell's Legal Information Institute, lists "Costa Rica, Sociedad Anonima" as a per se corporation. That means an SA is always treated as a foreign corporation for US tax purposes, and it cannot elect to be disregarded. For an American owner, a foreign corporation typically brings the heavier international information returns that a US tax preparer will charge accordingly for, and it adds the Form 8938 entity reporting the IRS describes above.

The SRL does not appear on that per se list. Under the same regulation, an entity that is not on the list is an "eligible entity" whose classification can generally be elected. Many cross-border advisers use that flexibility to have a single-owner SRL treated as disregarded. Whether that is right for you depends on your full tax picture, which is exactly the conversation to have before closing, not after. Our US tax implications guide covers rental income, foreign tax credits and FBAR in more detail.

💡 Key insight: For an American buyer, a Costa Rican SA is the structure that most often creates avoidable US reporting. An SRL, a US LLC, or personal ownership each avoid the per se corporation problem.

The Four Ways to Hold a Nosara Property, Compared

Structure	Costa Rican annual filings	US entity classification	Form 8938 position (per IRS)	Who it tends to suit
Personal name	None at the entity level; property tax and personal rental tax only	No entity	Real estate held directly is not reported	Second-home owners who rarely rent and want the simplest file
US LLC directly on title (3-012 cédula)	Corporate tax and RTBF, plus a registered power of attorney and resident agent	Domestic LLC, usually disregarded	Not a foreign entity	Owners who already run US rentals through an LLC and have a US asset protection plan
Costa Rican SRL	Corporate tax and RTBF	Eligible entity; classification can generally be elected	Interest in a foreign entity is reportable if over threshold	Most rental investors, and buyers who may sell by quota transfer later
Costa Rican SA	Corporate tax and RTBF	Per se foreign corporation, no election	Interest in a foreign entity is reportable if over threshold	Often inherited from a seller; rarely the best fresh choice for a US buyer

A fifth version, a US LLC that owns a Costa Rican SRL which holds title, also exists. It stacks both sets of filings and is usually only worth it when an attorney has a specific liability or estate reason for it.

What Changes When You Sell

Buyers often pick an entity because they have heard that selling the company instead of the house avoids transfer tax. That shortcut has been closed for years.

Costa Rica's property transfer tax is 1.5% under Law 6999, according to Global Law Experts in a guide reviewed in June 2026, calculated on the higher of the sale price or the registered fiscal value. CostaRicaLaw.com explains that Law 9069 amended the transfer tax law so that an indirect transfer, meaning a transfer of the control of a company that owns real estate, is itself a taxable transfer. Global Law Experts adds that the Registro Nacional may treat a share or quota sale that changes control as a taxable traspaso.

As a worked example only: on a property sold for $600,000, a 1.5% transfer tax is $9,000 whether the buyer receives a deed or the shares of the company that owns it.

What the entity does change at sale:

A US LLC seller needs its Costa Rican power of attorney and its 3-012 registrations in good standing, or the notary cannot close
An SRL or SA seller needs its corporate tax and RTBF current, because, as AG Legal notes, non-compliance can block the certificates a notary relies on
A buyer of shares inherits the company's history, which is why we wrote a separate guide on buying a Nosara property by purchasing the corporation

💡 Key insight: No structure avoids the 1.5% transfer tax. Choose your entity for liability, estate planning and US tax reporting, not to save on the eventual sale.

Practical Problems With a US LLC on a Nosara Title

The US LLC route works, but in practice it raises friction in places buyers do not anticipate.

Banking and payments

Local property managers, utilities and the municipality are used to dealing with individuals and Costa Rican companies. A foreign LLC with a 3-012 number can be harder to onboard with a local bank because banks run their own beneficial owner checks. AG Legal makes this point directly: banks carry out their own beneficial-owner review even when the company is current with RTBF. See our Costa Rica bank account guide before you decide.

Keeping two sets of paperwork alive

Your US LLC has state annual reports and a registered agent at home. On title in Costa Rica, it also needs its resident agent, its registered power of attorney, the annual corporate tax and the April RTBF. If your power of attorney lapses or your state good standing expires, the Costa Rican side cannot be updated until the US side is fixed and apostilled again.

Liability protection is not automatic

Many buyers choose an LLC for liability protection on a rental. Whether a Costa Rican court gives a foreign LLC the same shield a US court would is a question for your Costa Rican attorney. Do not assume it. Good liability insurance on the property is a separate layer that applies regardless of structure; our Nosara property insurance guide covers it.

Estate planning

An entity can make it easier to pass a property to heirs, because shares or membership interests change hands rather than the title. The rules differ by structure, and Costa Rican probate is its own process. Read our guide on estate planning for foreign owners in Nosara before choosing.

💡 Key insight: The US LLC route makes the most sense for owners who already run a portfolio of US rentals through LLCs and have advisers who handle foreign paperwork. For a first international purchase, it adds a layer that someone has to maintain every year.

Which Structure Fits Which Nosara Buyer

Here is how the decision usually breaks down for American buyers we speak with:

You want a vacation home you will rarely rent: personal ownership is the simplest file. There is no entity to keep current, and the IRS does not require you to report directly held foreign real estate on Form 8938.
You plan to run the home as a short-term rental in Playa Guiones or Playa Pelada: a Costa Rican SRL is the common default. It keeps the rental inside a local entity and avoids the SA's per se corporation status. See our Nosara short-term rental regulations guide.
You already hold US rentals in LLCs and want one consistent structure: a US LLC on title is workable, as long as you budget for a Costa Rican power of attorney, resident agent, annual corporate tax and RTBF filing.
The seller's property is already in an SA: you can take a title transfer into your own structure or buy the shares. If you keep an SA, talk to your US tax preparer first about the per se corporation consequences.
You are buying with a self-directed IRA: the structure is dictated by your IRA custodian and the prohibited transaction rules. Read our self-directed IRA guide.

For a broader comparison of SA and SRL mechanics, including how quotas and shares transfer, see using a corporation (SA or SRL) to buy property in Nosara.

A Closing Checklist for Buying Through a US LLC

If you go ahead with your US LLC on title, bring this list to your Costa Rican attorney at least a month before closing:

Certificate of good standing from your state, apostilled
Operating agreement or resolution authorizing the purchase, apostilled if signed abroad
Power of attorney meeting articles 226 and 232 of the Código de Comercio, naming an apoderado and a resident agent
3-012 cédula jurídica request filed early, since the RTBF clock starts when it is assigned
RTBF initial declaration scheduled within 20 business days of the cédula, with someone holding a Costa Rican digital signature or a registered generalísimo power
Annual corporate tax diarised for January 31 every year
US side: confirm with your tax preparer how the LLC is classified and how the rental will be reported
Source of funds documents ready for the escrow agent and notary; see our source of funds guide

Note also that since May 30, 2025, under Law 10729 as summarized by incorporations.io, new Costa Rican SRLs and SAs no longer choose a name at registration. They are identified by their cédula jurídica number. If you form an SRL instead, expect the company to be named by its number, in the format incorporations.io illustrates as "5128215, S.R.L."

💡 Key insight: The paperwork for a US LLC on a Nosara title is manageable, but the RTBF and power of attorney steps have deadlines that start running at closing. Line them up before you wire funds.

Next Steps

The structure decision belongs early in the process, ideally while you are still comparing neighborhoods. A property in Playa Guiones bought as a full-time rental may call for a different structure than a quiet second home in Playa Garza or a family retreat near Playa Pelada. Start with our Nosara buyer's guide for the full purchase process, read our complete guide for American buyers, and when you are ready, browse current Nosara listings with the ownership structure already in mind.

Can a US LLC Own Property in Costa Rica? A Nosara Buyer's Guide (2026)