Nicaragua Withholding tax rates
Nicaragua Withholding tax rates: no single figure applies. The reason is set out below, cited to the governing instrument. Last checked against the official source on 10 Aug 2026.
The definitive withholding taxes (retenciones definitivas) Nicaragua levies on payments to non-residents under Ley No. 822, Ley de Concertacion Tributaria, as reformed by Ley No. 987 of 2019 - dividends, interest and royalties as rentas de capital, plus non-resident economic activities and employment income - each at its domestic statutory rate before any double-tax agreement relief. Administered by the Direccion General de Ingresos (DGI).
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| Current value | structured — see the API |
|---|---|
| In force from | 2019-02-28 |
| Official source | Ley No. 987, Ley de Reformas y Adiciones a la Ley No. 822, Ley de Concertacion Tributaria, aprobada 27 de febrero de 2019, publicada en La Gaceta, Diario Oficial No. 41 del 28 de febrero de 2019 - reforming Arto. 24, 49, 53, 81 and 87 of Ley 822 (Normas Juridicas de Nicaragua, Asamblea Nacional) |
| Last verified | 2026-08-10 |
| Verification | primary — No verification limitation recorded — read from the official source cited. |
| Provenance | source fingerprint |
What this value means
THERE IS NO SINGLE WITHHOLDING TAX RATE, WHICH IS WHY value IS NULL. Nicaragua taxes non-residents through several distinct definitive withholdings at different rates - 15% on rentas de capital (dividends, interest, royalties), 20% on other economic activities, 20% on employment income, 30% on payments to tax havens. A caller wanting a number must name which payment type; read withholding_rates rather than expecting a headline figure. ALL RATES ARE DOMESTIC STATUTORY RATES, BEFORE TREATY RELIEF. Nicaragua has essentially no comprehensive double-tax treaties in force, but any applicable agreement could alter these; we do NOT serve treaty rates. These are DEFINITIVE withholdings (retenciones definitivas): they discharge the non-resident's Nicaraguan income-tax liability on the payment. The series effective_from is 28 February 2019, the Gaceta publication date of Ley 987, which set the current Arto. 87 alicuota (15% for residents and non-residents) and the current Arto. 53 numeral 3 (20% on remaining economic activities). BASE RULES MATTER (Arto. 81 as reformed): for rentas de capital mobiliario INCORPORAL (dividends, interest, royalties and other intangible rights) the taxable base is the GROSS amount with no deduction; for capital mobiliario corporal the base is 70% of gross (a single 30% deduction); for capital inmobiliario the base is 80% of gross (Arto. 80). The 15% rate applies to that base.
Get it programmatically
curl https://latamref.dev/v1/ni/withholding-tax
# $0.005 per call — x402 on Base (USDC). No key, no signup.
# History: curl https://latamref.dev/v1/ni/withholding-tax/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://latamref.dev/provenance/ni/withholding-taxOther Nicaragua series: BCN Tasa de Referencia Monetaria (TRM) · IVA standard rate · VAT registration threshold · Minimum wage (sectoral schedule) · Public holidays · CPI inflation (year-on-year) · Corporate income tax rate · Statutory legal interest (interés legal) · Personal income tax brackets · Statutory social-insurance contributions
The same figure elsewhere: Panama · Paraguay · Peru · Trinidad and Tobago · Uruguay · all 22