Nicaragua capital gains tax calculator

An individual's capital gain is taxed by retención definitiva at 15% for residents and non-residents, including trusts (Ley de Concertación Tributaria, article 87 numeral 3, as replaced by Ley 987 of 28 February 2019). A transfer of an asset that must be registered before a public office, such as immovable property, a motor vehicle, a ship or an aircraft, instead pays 1% to 7%, banded by the asset's value in US dollars. A disposal to or from an investment fund pays 7.5%.

It is an alternative base, not a rate. Article 83 numeral 3 of the LCT says that where the taxpayer cannot document their costs and expenses they may apply the article 87 rate to a sum equal to 60% of the amount received. The calculator's default is the documented gain, and the 60%-of-price base is a per-sale election you tick when the receipts are missing.

On the gain. The article 87 numeral 4 bands are read from the asset's value in US dollars, but Reglamento article 66 numeral 1 is explicit that the rates are applied to the base imponible the LCT defines in article 82, which for an onerous transfer is the transmission value less the acquisition cost.

Article 86 lets a taxpayer request compensation of a capital loss against the following fiscal period's gains, with the tax authority's prior authorisation; if the result is negative the loss may be deferred against capital gains received in the three following fiscal periods, each year tracked separately and not cumulatively. The rule does not reach non-residents without a permanent establishment.

Nicaragua taxes capital gains under the Ley de Concertación Tributaria (LCT, Ley 822, published in La Gaceta No. 241 of 17 December 2012, with its reforms). Article 15(II) defines ganancias y pérdidas de capital as the changes in the value of the taxpayer's patrimonial elements arising from the enajenación of goods or the cesión or traspaso of rights, and adds winnings from games, bets, gifts, inheritances and legacies. Article 87 numeral 3, as replaced by Ley 987 (La Gaceta No. 41 of 28 February 2019), puts the rate at 15% for residents and non-residents, including trusts; the restatement published in La Gaceta No. 155 of 22 August 2024 kept the 15% and the registered-asset table unchanged. The 10% of the original 2012 text (article 87 numeral 2) was replaced by Ley 987 and applies to no year from 2019 onward; the only 10% left in article 87 is confined to income from financing by investment-grade international banks (numeral 1). Sources: https://www.ine.gob.ni/DGE/digesto/leyes/Ley987.pdf and https://www.mem.gob.ni/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Ley-No.-822.pdf and https://www.dgi.gob.ni/pdfArchivo/22

Base imponible (article 82 LCT): the difference between the transmission value and its acquisition cost for onerous or gratuitous transfers, and the total or proportional amount received in the other cases. Article 83 details the cost (the total paid for the acquisition, plus investments, improvements and inherent acquisition costs, less depreciation, the whole updated by the official córdoba/US dollar exchange rate under art. 83(1)(d)) and the transmission value (the amount received, not below market; for assets subject to registration, the higher of the public-deed sale price and the cadastral appraisal, art. 83(2)). Reglamento (Decreto 01-2013) article 66 numeral 1 confirms the article 87 rates apply to those article 82 bases. This calculator takes the documented gain as the default base; it does not apply the article 83(1)(d) exchange-rate update of the cost, which needs the BCN rate series for the holding period. Sources: https://www.mem.gob.ni/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Ley-No.-822.pdf and https://legislacion.asamblea.gob.ni/normaweb.nsf/bbe90a5bb646d50906257265005d21f8/c7f0f2f9f092273e06257b16007b91a2

Undocumented costs (article 83 numeral 3 LCT): when the taxpayer cannot document costs and expenses, they may ('podrá aplicar') apply the article 87 withholding rate to a sum equal to 60% of the amount received. The 60% is an alternative base, not a rate, and it is a per-transfer taxpayer election. This calculator's default is the documented gain; the 60%-of-price base is a per-sale checkbox. Source: https://www.mem.gob.ni/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Ley-No.-822.pdf

Registered assets (article 87 numeral 4 LCT, as replaced by Ley 987): the transfer of assets subject to registration before a public office — immovable property, motor vehicles, ships, aircraft and similar (art. 15(I)(1)(d)) — is subject to definitive IR withholding at 1% to 7% of the base imponible, banded by the córdoba equivalent of the asset's value in US dollars: 1% up to US$50,000; 2% to US$100,000; 3% to US$200,000; 4% to US$300,000; 5% to US$400,000; 6% to US$500,000; 7% above. The bands recorded here are the córdoba equivalents at the BCN official rate of 36.6243 córdobas per US dollar (0% slide for 2024, 2025 and 2026): C$1,831,215.00; C$3,662,430.00; C$7,324,860.00; C$10,987,290.00; C$14,649,720.00; C$18,312,150.00. The band is read from the asset's value, but the rate applies to the base imponible of article 82 (the gain), not to the value — Reglamento art. 66 numeral 1. Payment is made before registration (Reglamento art. 66 numeral 3). Sources: https://www.dgi.gob.ni/pdfArchivo/22 and https://www.bcn.gob.ni/divulgacion-prensa/bcn-informa-que-la-tasa-de-deslizamiento-del-tipo-de-cambio-del-cordoba-respecto and https://legislacion.asamblea.gob.ni/normaweb.nsf/bbe90a5bb646d50906257265005d21f8/c7f0f2f9f092273e06257b16007b91a2

Shares and participations (Reglamento article 66 numeral 4): on the sale, cession or any other form of disposal of shares or participations the seller is subject to a definitive withholding on the capital gain, and the buyer or acquirer withholds the 15% of article 87 numeral 2 on the base imponible defined in article 82 numeral 1. The taxpayer may evidence the base that actually occurred by declaration and documentary proof. Source: https://legislacion.asamblea.gob.ni/normaweb.nsf/bbe90a5bb646d50906257265005d21f8/c7f0f2f9f092273e06257b16007b91a2

Losses (article 86 LCT): a taxpayer with capital losses may request their compensation against gains of the immediately following fiscal period, with prior authorisation of the tax authority. If the result of the compensation is negative, the losses may be deferred against capital gains received in the three following fiscal periods; their transfer and compensation are not cumulative but separate and independent. The rule does not apply to non-residents without a permanent establishment. This calculator nets a year's losses against that year's gains and reports the excess as carried out, capped at the gain and never unlimited; the authorisation requirement and the three-period limit are stated in its copy. Source: https://www.mem.gob.ni/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Ley-No.-822.pdf

No fiscal period and definitive withholding (articles 85 and 89 LCT; Reglamento articles 65 and 67): capital income and capital gains have no determined fiscal period because they are taxed by definitive withholding when received, and the declaration and payment of a month's definitive withholdings fall due within the first five calendar days of the following month. Where no withholding was made the taxpayer self-liquidates monthly by the fifth calendar day of the following month, and that self-liquidation is definitive (art. 92 as replaced by Ley 987). Sources: https://www.mem.gob.ni/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Ley-No.-822.pdf and https://www.ine.gob.ni/DGE/digesto/leyes/Ley987.pdf

Cryptoassets: no crypto-specific income-tax rule exists in Nicaragua. Article 15(II)'s definition covers any disposal of goods or rights, so a cryptoasset disposal falls under the general capital-gains rule at the 15% of article 87 numeral 3. The calculator applies that general rate and flags the absence of a dedicated crypto rule rather than presenting it as settled. Sources: https://www.mem.gob.ni/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Ley-No.-822.pdf and https://www.dgi.gob.ni/FAQ/ganancias_y_perdidas_de_capita.htm

Investment funds (article 280 numeral 2 LCT, as reformed by Ley 987): capital gains from the disposal of any kind of asset to or from an investment fund are subject to a definitive withholding at 7.5%, and income from participation certificates issued by a fund is exempt. Source: https://www.ine.gob.ni/DGE/digesto/leyes/Ley987.pdf

Exemptions (article 79 LCT): income from State securities issued up to 31 December 2009; income integrated as economic-activity income; gains arising for the donor on the donations of article 39 numeral 16; transfers received by the donee of those donations; lottery prizes up to C$50,000; prizes from games, bets, raffles, draws and bingo below C$25,000; and family remittances received by residents. No main-home, small-disposal or holding-period relief exists for a capital gain, so the calculator applies none. Source: https://www.mem.gob.ni/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Ley-No.-822.pdf

Stock exchange (article 279 LCT): transactions carried out through authorised stock exchanges are exempt from fiscal and local taxes, but the income from the sale, concessions, commissions and services, the interest and the capital gains remain subject to IR; State securities without explicit interest coupons sold by a taxed person to an exempt person carry a 0.25% definitive withholding. Source: https://www.mem.gob.ni/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Ley-No.-822.pdf