Nicaragua's headline corporate income tax (CIT) rate is 30.
The headline personal income tax (PIT) rate is residents 30%; non-residents 20%.
The standard VAT/GST (or equivalent consumption tax) rate is 15. Registration thresholds, zero-rated and exempt categories, and reduced rates vary by jurisdiction - see the source link below for the full detail on this jurisdiction.
An individual is tax resident in Nicaragua if they stay in the country for more than 180 days in a calendar year (continuous or not), or if their main center of economic interests is in Nicaragua, unless they can prove tax residence or domicile elsewhere via a certificate from a foreign tax authority. A company is resident if registered under Nicaraguan law, has its fiscal domicile in Nicaragua, or has its place of management in Nicaragua. Nicaragua applies an extended territorial system under Law No. 822: only Nicaragua-source income, or income producing effects inside Nicaragua, is taxable, regardless of the taxpayer's residency status. Resident individuals and companies are taxed only on Nicaragua-source income at progressive rates up to 30% (companies: flat 30%, or a 1-3% minimum definitive payment on gross income if higher); non-resident individuals face a flat 15% withholding rate, non-resident companies face item-specific withholding rates on dividends, interest, royalties, and service fees. Foreign-source income - overseas dividends, foreign rental income, remote work billed to foreign clients, and gains on foreign assets - falls outside Nicaragua's tax base entirely for residents and non-residents alike.
Nicaragua has no CFC regime - confirmed independently across three sources. As with other territorial systems in the region, foreign-source income is outside the tax base regardless of who controls the foreign entity earning it, removing the need for a CFC-style attribution mechanism. Nicaragua has no general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR). It has had transfer pricing rules aligned with OECD guidelines in effect since 2017, applying to related-party transactions, with a 30% withholding tax on payments to tax-haven jurisdictions serving as the primary anti-avoidance backstop.
Nicaragua has no thin capitalization provisions - confirmed independently across multiple sources. There is no statutory debt-to-equity ratio cap on interest deductibility for related-party or third-party debt.
Nicaragua's territorial system means there is no domestic FBAR/Form 8938-equivalent requiring a Nicaragua resident to self-report foreign accounts, since foreign-source income and foreign-held assets sit outside Nicaragua's tax base regardless of residency. Nicaragua's participation status in FATCA (intergovernmental agreement) and the OECD Common Reporting Standard was not confirmed from a primary source this session - treat as unconfirmed rather than assumed absent. Separately and independently of Nicaragua law, US citizens and Green Card holders with Nicaragua accounts remain obligated to file FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) once aggregate foreign accounts exceed USD 10,000, and potentially Form 8938, regardless of Nicaragua's own domestic requirements; there is also no US-Nicaragua totalization agreement.
Sources conflict on whether Nicaragua has any comprehensive double tax treaty in force. Multiple higher-quality sources - a professional Worldwide Corporate Tax Guide, a Central America tax-system overview, and an investment-migration guide - state plainly that Nicaragua has not entered into any income tax treaty with any country. One lower-quality aggregator lists "1" treaty for Nicaragua without naming the partner or providing a citation. Given the specificity and consistency of the sources stating no treaties exist, treat Nicaragua as having no DTT network, and confirm directly with the Direccion General de Ingresos (DGI) or local counsel before relying on treaty relief for any Nicaragua-connected transaction.