Read this before you tip in Costa Rica

Some visitors tip twice in Costa Rica without knowing it. Others wonder why the bill is higher than the menu said. Both are explained by two lines at the bottom of the bill.

What is already on the bill

Restaurants here add a 10 percent service charge, which the law requires for table service, and 13 percent sales tax, known as IVA. Together that is 23 percent on top of the price of the food. The service charge is the tip, and it goes to the staff.

By law the menu should show the final price with both already included. In practice many do not. When the consumer authority inspected restaurants in late 2025, more than half failed to show their prices properly, and some menus hid a plus taxes in the small print. If the menu says impuestos incluidos, or i.v.i., the price is final. If you are not sure, ask: ¿incluye impuestos y servicio?

Takeaway is different. The same authority has said that adding the 10 percent service charge to food taken away is not allowed.

So do you tip?

Nothing more is expected in a restaurant. If the service was good, a little extra in cash is appreciated and goes straight to the person who served you.

Where a tip is customary

Tour guides and boat crews, drivers who handle your luggage, a chef or a massage therapist who comes to the house, and the person who cleans it during your stay. There is no fixed rule and no percentage to work out: give what the service was worth to you. Taxi drivers do not expect a tip. The people who watch parked cars at the beaches expect a small payment in coins.

Cash and cards

Cards are accepted in most restaurants and supermarkets, and dollars are widely taken, but change comes back in colones at the business's own rate. Sodas, the feria, parking attendants and some park entrances are easier with colones. A small float of local cash solves most of it.