Starting a Business in Chile

This table summarizes the procedures and costs associated with setting up a business in Chile.

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Legal Form: Sociedad Anónima (SA) – closed corporation
City: Santiago

	Procedure	Time to complete:	Cost to complete:
1	Notarize articles of incorporation and record them in a public deed	1 days	USD 250
2	Publish deed (SA) in the official gazette (Diario Oficial)	3 days	USD 150
3	Register at the commercial registry of the state in which the entity is formed	4 days	USD15+0.2% of capital
4	Obtain tax registration number (Rol Unico Tributario) and give notice of initiation to Internal Revenue Service	1 day	no charge
5	Inspection from the Internal Revenue Service (SII)	2- 3 weeks (from the time of request until inspection)	no charge
6	Print receipts/invoices in the authorized printing company	1 day	USD 43 per 50-page book
7	Seal accounting books, invoices and other documents at the IRS	1 day	no charge
*8	Obtain a "patente municipal" working license from the competent municipality	14 days (simultaneous with procedure 5)	no charge
*9	Register with the labor-related accident insurance (Seguro Social contra Riesgos de Accidentes del Trabajo y Enfermedades Profesionales) at the Mutuales de Seguridad	1 day (simultaneous with procedure 5)	no charge

* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.

Procedure 1.: Notarize articles of incorporation and record them in a public deed
Time to complete:: 1 days
Cost to complete:: USD 250
Name of Agency:
Comment:: Notary fees may vary from USD 100 to USD 400.

Procedure 2.: Publish deed (SA) in the official gazette (Diario Oficial)
Time to complete:: 3 days
Cost to complete:: USD 150
Name of Agency:
Comment:: The deed must be published in the official gazette within 60 days of the date of the deed containing the bylaws. The publication fees are based on the number of lines and characters. On average, the fees are about USD 150.

Procedure 3.: Register at the commercial registry of the state in which the entity is formed
Time to complete:: 4 days
Cost to complete:: USD15+0.2% of capital
Name of Agency:
Comment:: The entity must be registered within 60 days of the date of the deed containing the bylaws.

Procedure 4.: Obtain tax registration number (Rol Unico Tributario) and give notice of initiation to Internal Revenue Service
Time to complete:: 1 day
Cost to complete:: no charge
Name of Agency:
Comment:: Before starting activities, the company must submit a declaration to the Internal Revenue Service that contains a description of the nature of its proposed activities, its domicile, and its amount of capital. The procedure usually takes 1 day or less if all required legal documentation is in order (notarized articles of incorporation and power of attorney, registrations, property title or lease agreement for offices, etc.). The company must also register for VAT through the Internal Revenue Service, which implemented an electronic registration system to obtain the tax number via the Internet.

Procedure 5.: Inspection from the Internal Revenue Service (SII)
Time to complete:: 2- 3 weeks (from the time of request until inspection)
Cost to complete:: no charge
Name of Agency:
Comment:: The inspectors verify that the company’s domicile corresponds to the location of its office(s).

Procedure 7.: Seal accounting books, invoices and other documents at the IRS
Time to complete:: 1 day
Cost to complete:: no charge
Name of Agency:
Comment:: Invoice and receipt forms can be sealed only after the tax registration number (rol unico tributario, or RUT) has been obtained, because the RUT must appear on them. So, this procedure is generally carried out once the forms are duly printed.

Procedure 8.: Obtain a "patente municipal" working license from the competent municipality
Time to complete:: 14 days (simultaneous with procedure 5)
Cost to complete:: no charge
Name of Agency:
Comment:: Decree Law 3063/1979 rules that any profession, activity, industry, commerce, art, or any other profitable activity, independent of its denomination, must obtain a working license from the municipality. A separate license must be obtained from the corresponding municipality for each of the enterprise’s establishments, offices, warehouses, and so forth. The license fee is paid once a year for a 12-month period, from July 1st to June 30th, or otherwise, in two installments (one per semester). The fee ranges from 0.25% to 0.5% of the contributor’s capital, measured in monthly tributary units (unidades tributarias mensuales), ranging from a minimum of 1 UTM (1 UTM = CLP 37,614) to a maximum of 8,000 UTM. There is no inspection fee.

Procedure 9.: Register with the labor-related accident insurance (Seguro Social contra Riesgos de Accidentes del Trabajo y Enfermedades Profesionales) at the Mutuales de Seguridad
Time to complete:: 1 day (simultaneous with procedure 5)
Cost to complete:: no charge
Name of Agency:
Comment:: According to Law 16,744, professional accident insurance is obligatory for any employee, regardless the activity, services rendered, or the nature of the employer. This insurance program is administered by the National Health Service (Servicio Nacional de Salud) and by the Social Insurance Service (Servicio del Seguro Social), public authorities that mainly administer premiums for public employees. In both cases, the insurance premiums are paid in to the Instituto de Normalización Provisional. However, private nonprofit entities known as Mutualidades de Empleadores may also administer insurance for the employees of their members, which are generally private companies.