Uruguay

Starting a Business in

Uruguay

Listed below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles an entrepreneur must overcome in order to incorporate and register a new firm, along with their associated time and set-up costs.  It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with up to 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income (GNI).

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standardized Company

  • Legal Form: Sociedad Anónima (SA)
  • City: Montevideo

About This Topic

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Select and reserve the name of the company from a list of names provided by the online portal of the one-stop shop (www.portaldelaempresa.guy.uy)


1 day UYU 516
2 Open a bank account and deposit the capital


1 day USD 200 (Varies by bank)
3 Notarize company's bylaws and signatures

The fee to notarize the company’s articles of association and its signatures depends on the company capital: the fee is usually calculated as 0.5% of the capital plus notary taxes of 18.5%, with a minimum fee of 40 readjustable units (unidad reajustable, UR). The UR is published on a monthly basis, and as of June 2011, its value is UYU 515.54.
1 day 0.5% of capital, minimum 40 U.R. + 18.5% notary tax
4 Incorporation and registration of the company at one of the offices of "Empresa en el Día"

All documents have to be presented and all registration fees have to be paid at Empresa en el Dia
3 days Included in procedure 5.
5 Pay fees and taxes in any local Payment Agency


1 day UYU 1409 (registration fee) + UYU 1410 (book registration) + UYU 470 per book (stamp fee)+ UYU 2578 (approval of public deed) +UYU 3928 ( publication in the Official Gazette) + UYU 18559 (ICOSA tax) + UYU 94 (professional stamp on forms 351 and 352)