Taxes
Booking.com and Expedia carry 13% VAT in Costa Rica since September: what changes for your hotel
Since September 8, anyone who pays for a Booking.com or Expedia reservation with a card issued in Costa Rica sees 13 percent more on their statement. It is not a new tax, but it does change how much your Costa Rican guests pay and how it is best to take their money. This is what is known, and what is not yet.
What changed on September 8
With resolution MH-DGT-OF-0592-2026, published on September 5, the Ministry of Finance (Hacienda) extended its list of foreign digital service providers from 161 to 181. The new names include three lodging platforms, among them Booking.com and Expedia. From Tuesday, September 8, the 13 percent VAT (IVA) applies to purchases from them made with a Costa Rican card.
The third platform is Agoda. It is not a new tax: VAT on digital services has existed since 2020, under Law 9635. What changed is the list. Because these platforms have not registered with Hacienda to charge the tax themselves, the bank or card issuer collects it instead: it adds it to the charge, and it appears on the customer’s statement.
La Nación showed it with an example: a night in Tamarindo priced at ¢74,807 ends up costing ¢84,532 with the 13 percent, about ¢10,000 more.
Who it affects, and who it does not
- Guests who pay the platform with a Costa Rican card. The platform makes the charge and the Costa Rican bank adds 13 percent. This is the typical case of a local or resident guest who prepays the booking on the channel.
- Not foreign guests with foreign cards. The tax is collected by Costa Rican banks and card issuers; a card from another country does not go through that mechanism.
- Not guests who pay at the property. If the booking comes through the channel but the guest pays you on arrival, there is no charge from the platform to their card, and so nothing for the bank to add.
- Your own receipt stays the same. Lodging has carried its 13 percent VAT since July 2023, and that does not change.
The risk: the same tax twice
If your price already includes the lodging VAT and a Costa Rican guest prepays on the platform with their card, the bank adds another 13 percent to the total. In practice, that guest can end up paying the tax twice on the same night.
It is not a new problem. Back in 2021, when lodging platforms were on an earlier version of the list, the head of the tax administration explained that users had to go to Hacienda with proof to ask for the money back. In September 2026, Hacienda explained that a refund is requested in TRIBU-CR with form D-402 and the card statement. That was explained for stays abroad; for a stay in Costa Rica with a receipt from the hotel, your guest should ask the tax administration directly.
For your hotel, the problem is less the paperwork than the experience. A guest who sees 13 percent extra on their card rarely blames the bank. They connect it with your price. And it falls on the guests who are most likely to come back and to recommend you to friends and family: the ones who live here.
What you can do this season
- Offer pay-at-the-property for the local market. On platforms that allow it, a rate paid at the property avoids the platform’s charge to the guest’s card. Check which payment options you have switched on for each channel.
- Make booking direct easy. A Costa Rican guest who books on your own booking page and pays you does not go through the bank’s charge. It matters most at Christmas, New Year and Semana Santa, when local guests book the most.
- Tell the guest before they see it on their statement. If your guest is local and prepaid on the platform, one line in the confirmation message explaining the bank’s charge avoids a complaint later.
- Check how you pay the commissions. If you pay the platform’s commission invoices with a Costa Rican card, look at your statement: the bank may be adding 13 percent there too. Ask your accountant how to record it.
- Keep the statements. If anyone has to ask for a refund, the statement showing the charge is the proof.
What is not known yet
Hacienda would prefer the platforms to register and charge the tax themselves; if they did, the bank would stop adding it. As of November 2, 2026, we have not found an announcement that Booking.com or Expedia has done so, nor an official fix for the double charge on stays inside the country.
This is not tax advice
This article sums up what Hacienda and the press had published by November 2, 2026. Every hotel has its own tax situation; before you change prices or invoicing, check with your accountant.
How Staywarden helps
On the Complete plan, your hotel has its own website and booking page: the guest sees the total including VAT and pays by card straight into your own account, without going through a platform. Deposits, the balance and cash payments are recorded on each booking and in Money, and Analytics shows your bookings by country and by channel.
The tiquete electrónico 4.4 is signed with your company’s own Hacienda key and issued with one tap; our guide to electronic invoicing explains the rest. What channel commissions cost you is in this article, and the plans are on the pricing page.
Sources
- La Nación: users in Costa Rica will pay more for lodging; the refund procedure (September 9, 2026)
- La Nación: the vice minister explains why Booking.com was included (September 9, 2026)
- The Tico Times: Costa Rica adds Booking.com, Expedia and ChatGPT to its 13% VAT list (September 6, 2026)
- La República: the double charge on online lodging bookings (April 19, 2021)