Costa Rica or United States: which taxes less?

Both tax systems side by side, headline rates and the gap between them.

Level pegging: Costa Rica and United States weigh about the same on the taxpayer.

Tax Costa Rica United States Gap
Corporate income tax headline rate 30% 21% +9.0 points
Personal income tax top bracket 0% to 25% 10% to 37% −12.0 points
VAT standard rate 13% 11.73% +1.3 points

Detailed schedules

Corporate income tax

Costa Rica

General rate 30%
Small businesses, first bracket revenue under 119 M CRC 5%
Small businesses, next brackets progressive scale 5 to 20% 20%

United States

Federal tax 21%
State tax 0% to over 9% depending on the state n/a
See the Costa Rica page See the United States page