# nicaragua-iva

## Section 1 — Quick reference

**Quick reference**

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Country | Nicaragua |
| Standard rate | 15% |
| Zero rate | Exports |
| Exempt supplies | Basic food basket, medicines, agricultural inputs, medical services, education, public transport, financial interest, insurance, residential rental, electricity/water (domestic) |
| Return form | Monthly IVA declaration |
| Filing portal | https://www.dgi.gob.ni (VET) |
| Authority | DGI (Direccion General de Ingresos) |
| Currency | NIO (Cordoba) / USD (some transactions) |
| Filing frequency | Monthly |
| Deadline | 15th of month following period |
| Contributor | Open Accountants Skills Registry |
| Validated by | Pending |

**Conservative defaults**

| Ambiguity | Default |
| --- | --- |
| Unknown rate | 15% |
| Unknown purchase status | Not deductible |
| Unknown counterparty | Domestic Nicaragua |
| Unknown business-use | 0% |
| Unknown blocked status | Blocked |

## Section 2 — Required inputs and refusal catalogue

### Required inputs

**Minimum viable** — bank statement. Banks: BAC, Banpro, Lafise Bancentro, Banco de la Produccion (Banpro), Ficohsa.

### Refusal catalogue

- **R-NI-1 — Cuota Fija** — Cuota Fija taxpayers pay a fixed monthly amount and do not file IVA returns. (Trigger: client under fixed-fee small taxpayer regime.)
- **R-NI-2 — Free zone** — Free zone entities have IVA exemptions. Escalate. (Trigger: client in a zona franca.)
- **R-NI-3 — Cooperative special regime** — Cooperatives may have special IVA treatment. Flag. (Trigger: cooperative entity.)

## Section 3 — Supplier pattern library

### 3.1 Banks

**Banks**

| Pattern | Treatment | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BAC, BANPRO, LAFISE, FICOHSA | 15% for fees; EXCLUDE for interest |  |

### 3.2 Government

**Government**

| Pattern | Treatment | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| DGI, INSS | EXCLUDE | Tax/social security |
| ALCALDIA | EXCLUDE | Municipal fee |

### 3.3 Utilities

**Utilities**

| Pattern | Treatment | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| UNION FENOSA, DISNORTE, DISSUR | Domestic 15% (commercial) | Electricity |
| ENACAL | Exempt (domestic water) |  |
| CLARO, TIGO | Domestic 15% | Telecoms |

### 3.4 SaaS non-resident

**SaaS non-resident**

| Pattern | Treatment | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| GOOGLE, MICROSOFT, ADOBE, META, ZOOM | Reverse charge 15% |  |
| NOTION, ANTHROPIC, OPENAI | Reverse charge 15% |  |

### 3.5 Food and entertainment

**Food and entertainment**

| Pattern | Treatment | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| LA COLONIA, PALI, MAXI PALI | Default BLOCK | Personal |
| RESTAURANT | Default BLOCK | Entertainment |

### 3.6 Internal transfers

**Internal transfers**

| Pattern | Treatment | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| TRANSFERENCIA PROPIA | EXCLUDE |  |
| NOMINA, SALARIO | EXCLUDE |  |

## Section 4 — Worked examples

### Example 1 — Non-resident reverse charge

**Input:** `NOTION LABS INC ; DEBIT ; NIO 500`
**Treatment:** Reverse charge 15%. Net zero.

### Example 2 — Standard domestic sale

**Input:** `EMPRESA CLIENTE SA ; CREDIT ; NIO 115,000`
**Treatment:** Net = 100,000. IVA = 15,000.

### Example 3 — Entertainment, blocked

**Input:** `RESTAURANT ; DEBIT ; NIO 1,150`
**Treatment:** Blocked. No credit.

### Example 4 — Export

**Input:** `US BUYER ; CREDIT ; NIO 500,000`
**Treatment:** Zero-rated. Full input credit.

### Example 5 — Motor vehicle, blocked

**Input:** `AUTOMOTRIZ ; DEBIT ; sedan ; NIO 400,000`
**Treatment:** Blocked.

### Example 6 — Basic food (exempt)

**Input:** `PROVEEDOR AGRICOLA ; DEBIT ; basic grains ; NIO 50,000`
**Treatment:** Exempt. No IVA. No input credit on attributable costs.

## Section 5 — Tier 1 classification rules (compressed)

### 5.1 Standard rate 15% (LCT Art. 109)

- **Standard rate** — 15%

### 5.2 Exempt goods — basic food basket, medicines, agricultural inputs

- **Exempt goods** — Basic food basket, medicines, agricultural inputs

### 5.3 Exempt services — medical, education, public transport, financial interest, insurance, residential rental

- **Exempt services** — Medical, education, public transport, financial interest, insurance, residential rental

### 5.4 Exports — zero-rated with full input credit

- **Exports** — Zero-rated with full input credit

### 5.5 Reverse charge — services from non-residents

- **Reverse charge** — Services from non-residents

### 5.6 Blocked input IVA — entertainment, vehicles, personal use

- **Blocked input IVA** — Entertainment, vehicles, personal use

### 5.7 Self-supply (autoconsumo) — taxable event

- **Self-supply (autoconsumo)** — Taxable event

## Section 6 — Tier 2 catalogue (compressed)

### 6.1 Cooperative treatment — flag

- **Cooperative treatment** — Flag

### 6.2 Mixed operations — proportional method

- **Mixed operations** — Proportional method

### 6.3 Digital services from non-residents — evolving

- **Digital services from non-residents** — Evolving

## Section 7 — Excel working paper template

Standard layout.

## Section 8 — Bank statement reading guide

**Format:** BAC/Banpro CSV, DD/MM/YYYY, NIO. **Language:** Spanish.

## Section 9 — Onboarding fallback

### 9.1 RUC — "What is your RUC?"

"What is your RUC?"

### 9.2 Regime — "Regimen General or Cuota Fija?"

"Regimen General or Cuota Fija?"

### 9.3 Prior credit — always ask

always ask

## Section 10 — Reference material

### Sources

1. Ley de Concertacion Tributaria (LCT), Ley 822 (as amended by Ley 987)
2. Reglamento LCT (Decreto 01-2013)
3. DGI VET — https://www.dgi.gob.ni

### Change log

- **v2.0 (April 2026):** Full rewrite to 10-section architecture.
- **v1.0:** Initial skill.

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