Uruguay: Business Environment

Accounting Rules

Tax Year: The fiscal year begins on January 1st and ends on December 31 of the same year.
Accounting Standards: Adoption of IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) in 2004.
Accounting Regulation Bodies: CGN
BCU
Accounting Reports: A balance sheet, a profit and loss account.
Publication Requirements: Companies must inform the government of their economic and financial situation by publishing annually its financial statements controlled by chartered accountants.
Professional Accountancy Bodies: CCEA , Board of Uruguayan Accounters, Economists and Administrators.
Certification and Auditing: Companies have to apply the International Accounting Standard which is enforced by law. To control accounting and the accounting documents published by the companies, an external auditor is required.
You can contact an external auditor: Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Accounting News: National General Accounting
IAS Plus

Nature of the Tax: Value Added Tax (VA)
Tax Rate: The standard rate is 22%.
Reduced Tax Rate: Certain essential goods and medicines are subject to the minimum rate of 10%.
Other Consumption Taxes: Port taxes are overseen by the Administracion Nacional de Puertos (National Port Authority). They are applied in USD per ton. An import control fee of 1% (TCI) of the CIF (Cost Insurance and Freight) is perceived by the Central Bank of Uruguay. There is a custom fee (TSA) of 0.2% of the CIF value, and a special service fee in USD depending of the value of the goods.
Uruguay implements furthermore a commercialization tax: IMESI (Impuesto Especifico Interno, Specific Internal Tax). It is applied only to the first sale. Depending on the good, it is computed on the real sale price or on the official price set by the state.

Company Tax: 25%
Capital Gains Taxation: Capital gains on disposal of shares and listed shares are exempt. Other gains are included with taxable income.
Main Allowable Deductions and Tax Credit: Deductions are possible for: depreciation and depletion, net operating losses, and payments to foreign affiliates.
Other Corporate Taxes: - IMESI (Specific Internal Tax);
- FIS (Tax for the Health Inspection Fund);
- ICOSA (Tax for the Control of Public Companies);
- IPAT (Property tax);
- IVA (Value Added Tax).

See specificities on the General Tax Office (DGI) website.

	Uruguay	Latin America & Caribbean	United States	Germany
Number of Payments of Taxes per Year	53.0	33.2	11.0	16.0
Time Taken For Administrative Formalities (Hours)	336.0	384.7	187.0	215.0
Total Share of Taxes (% of Profit)	42.0	48.0	46.8	48.2

Source: Doing Business - Last Available Data.

Personal income tax	Progressive rate based on a reference wage: The BPC (Base de Prestaciones y Contribuciones). 1 BPC equals UYU 1,944.
Up to BPC 60	0%
BPC 61 to 120	10%
BPC 121 to 180	15%
BPC 181 to 600	20%
BPC 601 to 1,200	22%
Over BPC 1,200	25%

Allowable Deductions and Tax Credit: Possible deductions for:
- Children to support;
- Supporting handicaped or disabled children;
- Contribution health fund;
- Contribution to a solidarity fund.
Special Expatriate Tax Regime: IRNR, tax for non-residents at variable rate. See the general tax administration website DGI.

Countries With Whom a Double Taxation Treaty Have Been Signed: Uruguay has signed treaties with several countries to avoid double taxation
Withholding Taxes: Dividends: 7%, Interest: 3%/5%/12%, Royalties: 12%

National Organizations: The National Directorate of Industrial Property . Uruguay signed the Paris Convention for the protection of industrial property along with the agreement establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Regional Organizations: Regional property right regulation in the Mercosur agreements framework.

Type of property and law	Validity	International Agreements Signed
Patent Patent Law	Period of validity of 15 years
Trademark Trademark law	Period of validity of 10 years
Design Industrial Design Law	Period of validity of 5 years. Period renewable every 5 years.
Copyright Law Nº 9.739 form décembre 17th 1937, updated en 2003	Author: All his life 40 years after the author's death for his inheritors	WIPO Copyright Treaty
Industrial Models Law number 17.164, directing rights and obligations relating to invention patents, utility models, designs and industrial models.	20 years

Independence of Justice: The judiciary is largely independent, but has become increasingly inefficient in the face of escalating crime and a backlog of cases.
Equal Treatment of Nationals and Foreigners: Uruguay is largely ruled by law; however discrimination against the country’s black minority and violence against women is a problem. Foreign nationals cannot be always guaranteed an impartial trail from the country’s judicial system. Though a certain degree of corruption exists in the corporate sector and the government departments, government is taking necessary measures to curb it. It is one of the least corrupt nations in Latin America.
The Language of Justice: Spanish is the judicial language used in the country.
Recourse to an Interpreter: Having an interpreter is possible.
Sources of the Law and Legal Similarities: The main source of the law is the constitution of 1967 (modified in 1989 and 1997). The legal system is based on Spanish civil law system. Uruguay accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.
Checking National Laws Online: Legal information website

Learn more about Lawyers and Legal in Uruguay on Globaltrade.net, the Directory for International Trade Service Providers.

National Standards Organizations: Uruguayan Technical Standards Institute.
Integration in the International Standards Network: The Uruguayan Technical Institute of Standards (UNIT) is a member of the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML), of the International Organization of Standardization (ISO), of the International Eletrotechnical Commission (IEC), of the Pan American Standards Commission (COPANT), and of the MERCOSUR.
Classification of Standards: Certification UNIT- ISO
Online Consultation of Standards: See the UNIT catalogue.
Certification Organizations: Uruguayan Technical Standards Institute.

General Information: Doingbusiness , Business indicators and data.
Worldservicesgroup, Business indicators and data.
Opening Hours and Days: Banks are open from Monday to Friday from 12 am to 5 pm.
Businesses open from Monday to Friday from 9 am to 7 pm and Saturday from 9 am to 2:30 pm.
Offices open from 12:30 pm to 7 pm during winter and from 7 am to 2:30 pm during summer.

Holy week

March

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