Property tax in Nicaragua
See what Nicaragua's tax rules do to your property portfolio.
What Freeholt models for property, income and retirement in Nicaragua, and what it does not.
Free to start. No card. Rules reviewed 2 July 2026.
Modelled here
- Tax on rental income
- Capital gains on a sale
- Duty on purchase (approximate)
- Annual property or land tax
NIO · Rates as at 2 July 2026 · Estimates, not advice
POLITICAL RISK FLAG: expropriation history and 2025 state control laws. Diligence essential. Non resident rent: effective 10.5% (15% on 70% of gross). Sale gains 15%, collected via a 1 to 7% withholding on transfer value.
How rental income is taxed in Nicaragua
For a resident owner: A flat 30% on net rent after costs. For an owner living abroad and renting this out: A flat 15% on gross rent. A statutory deduction of 30% comes off the gross first, so the effective rate on rent is about 10.5%.
Interest and losses
Mortgage interest is deductible against the rent. A rental loss brings no relief: it cannot reduce other income, and it does not carry forward.
Capital gains on a sale
Gains are taxed at a flat 15%.
Annual property tax while holding
About 0.8% a year on the property value.
What it costs to buy
Freeholt estimates this at 4% of the price. That is an average rather than the published rule, which is not modelled here yet. Progressive transfer withholding: 1% (≤$50k) rising to 7% (>$500k) of the value.
Can a foreign buyer purchase here?
A foreign buyer needs approval before purchasing. Open except within 15km of borders and coastal concessions. But HIGH political risk (expropriation history, 2025 state control laws). Diligence essential.
How Freeholt models Nicaragua
Every rate above is priced from Freeholt's own table for Nicaragua and runs through the whole projection: rental income, a modelled sale and the annual holding costs all use the same figures. They cannot be edited yet, so a position that differs from the defaults has to be read with that in mind. The estimate assumes an individual owner rather than a company or trust, and where a rule is not modelled it is listed below rather than quietly priced at zero.
What running this property costs
In Nicaragua this covers the IBI property tax (~0.8% effective), security, insurance and management.
How borrowing works here
Local financing is scarce; cash purchases dominate. HIGH political risk. Price it in.
What actually happened here
This country's own record, one year at a time. Nothing on this page is borrowed from another country. Move across a chart to read a year.
What Freeholt models here
- ModelledTax on rental income
- Resident and non resident rates, with interest and losses treated under the local rule.
- ModelledCapital gains on a sale
- Priced in the year of the sale under the rules of that year.
- ApproximateDuty on purchase
- Carried as one national average rather than the published scale, which differs by band and often by region.
- ModelledAnnual property or land tax
- Charged every year the property is held.
- Not yetIncome tax beyond the rent
- Not modelled for this country yet.
- Not yetDividends, interest and share sales
- Not modelled for this country yet.
- Not yetRetirement savings
- Not modelled for this country yet.
- Not yetInheritance and what happens on death
- Not modelled for this country yet.
What Freeholt does not model here
- Inheritance and estate tax
- Treaty relief between this country and the owner's country of residence
Coverage deepens country by country. Every figure is an estimate, not advice.
Compare with another country
Each page is built from the same table the app runs on, so the figures line up side by side.
Compare Nicaragua with another country — rent, gains, annual tax and duty, side by side.
Questions people ask
- Does Freeholt model Nicaragua property tax?
- Yes. Rental income tax, capital gains on a sale, duty on purchase and annual property or land tax are priced from Freeholt's own rate table for Nicaragua. Duty on purchase carries a simplification that the page names beside the figure. The rates are not editable yet, so one that differs in a particular case cannot be overridden. Every figure is an estimate, not advice.
- How is rental income from Nicaragua taxed if I live somewhere else?
- A flat 15% on gross rent. A statutory deduction of 30% comes off the gross first, so the effective rate on rent is about 10.5%. Tax may also be due in the country of residence, with credit for what was paid here. Estimates only, not advice.
- What are the Nicaragua figures as at?
- The rate table for Nicaragua was last reviewed on 2 July 2026. Freeholt date stamps every country rather than implying all of them were checked on the same day. Estimates only, not advice.
Model a property in Nicaragua alongside everything else you own: see the year your portfolio starts paying you back.