How to Start a Business in Chile
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Republic of Chile's average gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4.1 percent annually makes its economy the fastest growing in Latin America. Led by the services and industrial sectors---which account for 95 percent of Chile's economy, the economic strength of Chile is connected closely to copper and other mineral exports---Chile is the world's largest copper producer. Since the turn of the century, Chile has strengthened its global economic position by entering into free-trade agreements (FTA) with countries like the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Mexico, China, European Union and a host of Latin American countries. Overall, Chile's market is ripe for starting a business.
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Things You'll Need
- Articles of incorporation
- Bylaws
- Tax registration number
- Invoices/receipts
Instructions
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Draft articles of incorporation and bylaws for your business. The articles of incorporation---also called articles of association and bylaws, are documents that outline how your company will be governed and directed. This document is supplied by your Chilean notary public, who must also notarize the articles and record them in what is called a public deed---escritura publica in Spanish. The public deed is a document used by the notary to authenticate the signatures and verify the integrity of the contents of the articles submitted. The notary fee for processing is between $100 and $400 USD.
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Publish the public deed in the official gazette---Diario Oficial in Spanish. Within 60 days of the public deed notarization, the deed is published in the official gazette---takes about three days. The fees associated to this filing are based on the number of lines and characters---averaging $150.
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Register your company at the commercial registry within the state in which you are incorporating. You must also complete this step within 60 days of the notarization of your bylaws. This process will take four days, and you will have to pay 0.2 percent of the capital reported in your bylaw registration.
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Secure a tax registration number---rol unico tributario (RUT) in Spanish---by registering with the Chilean Internal Revenue Service---Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII) in Spanish. You must submit a declaration to the SII describing the nature of your proposed activities, capital, and domicile. You must also register for value added tax (VAT) with the SII. Registrations processed via the SII website are also accepted. Within three weeks following registration, a SII agent will visit the domicile of the business to verify the companies presence at the documented address.
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Order receipts/invoices from an authorized printing company. The tax registration number must appear on the invoices and receipts. The invoices/receipts, and accounting books are then officially sealed at the Chilean Internal Revenue Service (SII).
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Obtain a working license---called patente municipal in Spanish---from the appropriate municipality. Chilean law requires every business obtain a license for every facility that business is conducted from. This includes warehouses and additional offices in other locations. The fee connected to the license is due annually and is between 0.25 to 0.5 percent of your reported capital. Payments are made either once a year or the payment is submitted in two installments---one per semester.
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Register for labor-related accident insurance. Every company, regardless of industry, must register for labor related accident insurance---called Seguro Social Contra Riesgos de Accidentes del Trabajo y Enfermedades Profesionales in Spanish---at the Mutuales de Seguridad. The National Health Service---Servicio Nacional de Salud---and the Social Insurance Service---Servicio del Segru Social---administer the Chilean insurance program. These agencies mainly administer premiums for public employees. Premiums are paid into the Instituto de Normalization Provisional. In some cases, private companies join non-profit entities known as Mutalidades de Empleadores, which in turn administer insurance for the employees of these companies.
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Tips & Warnings
Before conducting business in Chile, learn about the culture, customs, people, history and business environment of Chile.
The currency used in the Republic of Chile is the Chilean Peso (CLP), and it converts to the U.S. dollar (USD) like so: CLP$1=USD$0.0019.
All fees and values in this article are based on estimations from the World Bank Group, and are subject to change.
References
Resources
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