Law 9742: non-traditional lodging in Costa Rica

In one sentence: Law 9742 created the category of non-traditional lodging — renting a home to tourists for between 24 hours and one year — and requires whoever provides it to register with the Costa Rican Tourism Board, on top of registering as a taxpayer and invoicing with VAT.

What counts as non-traditional lodging

The definition is the one the tax authority uses in its own material:

A type of tourism consisting of the provision of tourist services renting out homes, apartments, villas, chalets, bungalows, rooms or any other analogous construction […] for periods no longer than one year, nor shorter than twenty-four hours.

Dirección General de Tributación · Tax duties on non-traditional lodging

That sentence gives you the two limits that decide who is in:

Under 24 hours is not non-traditional lodging.
Over a year is not either: that is an ordinary lease, with its own rules.

Hotels are out. The same tax authority material makes it clear: a hotel has its own activity code and does not fall under non-traditional lodging. If someone is applying hotel rules to your cabina, they are applying the wrong rulebook.

The obligation almost nobody mentions

The law requires registration with the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT) before you operate. It is not a tax procedure, and that is exactly why it falls off the radar: someone watching their tax obligations never hears it exists.

Registration is done online, through the form the ICT keeps on its site, and the Board itself issues a registration resolution with your code.

It is the difference between being up to date with the tax authority and being in compliance. You can have your VAT filed to the last colón and still be operating without the registration the law asks for.

What the law requires, all together

Obligation	With whom	When
Register as a non-traditional lodging provider	Tourism Board (ICT)	Before you operate
Register as a taxpayer	Tax authority, in TRIBU-CR	Before your first invoice
Issue electronic invoices with VAT	Your guest	With every stay
File VAT	Tax authority	Monthly
File the rental income	Tax authority	According to your regime
Comply with Law 7600 on accessibility	The property	Permanently

The law also has its regulation, decree 43154-H-TUR, which is where the detail of the requirements and the procedure lives.

And what does it require of the platforms?

The law also reaches intermediaries — Airbnb, Booking and the rest — and that is where a very widespread confusion comes from: that if the platform is regulated, then the platform takes care of it.

It does not work that way. Platforms have their own obligations and the host has theirs, and one does not replace the other. VAT is the clearest example: the platform collects the tax on its own commission, and you collect the one on the lodging.

Quick answers

I rent out a room in my own house. Am I in?

The definition mentions rooms explicitly. Living there yourself does not take you out of the category.

I rent by the month, not by the night. Am I in?

If the term is under a year and over 24 hours, yes. The upper limit is the year, not the month. What does change below one month is your activity code with the tax authority.

I only rent in high season. Do I still register?

The obligation arises from providing the service, not from doing it all year round.

What about the municipal licence?

That is a separate matter and it depends on your canton. Some municipalities charge a licence for rentals and others do not, and the criteria differ — worth asking yours directly.

I am not a resident. Does this apply to me?

Yes. The obligation attaches to the service provided in Costa Rica, not to who provides it. What you will need first is a NITE, the tax ID for foreigners without a Costa Rican one.

From Ticuenta

With the registration done, the invoicing is what is left

Bookings come in on their own and each one produces its invoice with the VAT. The platform's commission gets documented too.

See how it works

About this article. The definition and the hotel exclusion come from the tax authority's own material on non-traditional lodging; the detail of the requirements, from decree 43154-H-TUR, the regulation to Law 9742.

Verified as of 24 September 2026. Rules change. This is information, not legal or tax advice.

Sources: Current legal texts (Sinalevi) Costa Rican Tourism Board

Law 9742: what “non-traditional lodging” is and what it requires