Company Incorporation Guide

Chile company incorporation from abroad

Applicable country/region: CL - Chile

Published: September 19, 2026Updated: September 26, 2026

Written by our advisory team
Chile rules and requirements
Checked against official sources

Guide overview

Foreign ownership and the two routes to registration

Chile company incorporation is open to foreign owners: a person or company abroad may wholly own a Chilean company without living there. With the legal form chosen, the first step is a foreign-investor RUT (Chile's tax ID) for each foreign owner, and the company needs a legal representative in Chile. One route is a public deed before a notary, whose extract is registered in the Registro de Comercio (Commercial Register) and published in the Diario Oficial. The other is the Registro de Empresas y Sociedades, the Law 20.659 online register on Tu Empresa en un Día, where entering the signed electronic form creates the company. Open or special corporations and foreign companies' branches cannot use it.

COMPANY TYPES

SpA, SRL or EIRL: matching the form to the owners

A sole founder or parent company is well served by a joint stock company (Sociedad por Acciones, SpA). Its bylaws (estatutos), set in the articles of incorporation, decide whether it has a board of directors; shares pass to new shareholders without amending them. A limited liability company (Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, SRL) under Law 3.918 has no board. Partners run it or appoint administrators, and none can sell a stake without every partner's consent, which suits a family business. An EIRL (empresa individual de responsabilidad limitada) is for one natural person and one activity, so a co-founder or corporate owner means changing form. A foreign company's branch (agencia), unlike a subsidiary, is not a separate legal person.

Reading the company types

Rows cover ownership, shareholder and director rules, capital and notes for each company type.

Basic Information

Chile SRL

Chile SpA

Ownership:

Private Ownership

Ownership:

Private Ownership

Limited Liability:

Positive

Limited Liability:

Positive

Publicly Participates In Capital Market:

Negative

Publicly Participates In Capital Market:

Negative

Shareholder / Director / Secretary Requirements

Chile SRL

Chile SpA

Requirements For Shareholders:

Minimum two partners (socios), maximum fifty

Requirements For Shareholders:

Minimum one shareholder

Requirements For Directors:

Minimum one director

Requirements For Directors:

Minimum one director

Legal Representative Not Mandatory:

Negative

Legal Representative Not Mandatory:

Negative

Local Directors Not Mandatory:

Negative

Local Directors Not Mandatory:

Negative

Local Secretaries Not Mandatory:

Positive

Local Secretaries Not Mandatory:

Positive

Registered Capital Requirement

Chile SRL

Chile SpA

Minimum Registered Capital Requirement:

No minimum

Minimum Registered Capital Requirement:

No minimum

Capital Injection Not Required:

Positive

Capital Injection Not Required:

Positive

Capital Injection Requirement:

No minimum capital injection requirement.

Capital Injection Requirement:

No minimum capital injection requirement.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

Why every foreign owner needs a RUT first

Before company registration in Chile, the Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII) must know every foreign owner. Under SII Resolution 77 of 2025, each one based abroad, natural or legal person, must obtain a foreign-investor RUT through a representative (mandatario) domiciled or resident in Chile who holds a power of attorney. An owner without a RUT cannot be named in the online register's form, and the SII will not register a company with an owner who has none. Banks serving companies in Chile check the same documents again: anti-money-laundering rules under Law 19.913 make them identify beneficial owners. Where an owner is a legal entity, the file reaches through it to the natural persons who own or control it.

Reading the documents

Rows are document types grouped by who provides them; each entry ends with its process and format.

Natural Person Shareholders & Directors's Required Documents

Chile Company Incorporation (SRL)

Chile Company Incorporation (SpA)

Passport:

Full scan copy of the passport of the company director and UBO.

Process: Not ApplicableFormat: Scan Copy

Passport:

Full scan copy of the passport of the company director and UBO.

Process: ApostilleFormat: Physical Copy

Proof of Address:

Scan copy of the legal representative and UBO's bank statement or utility bill within the last three months as proof of address.

Process: Not ApplicableFormat: Scan Copy

Proof of Address:

Scan copy of the legal representative and UBO's bank statement or utility bill within the last three months as proof of address.

Process: Not ApplicableFormat: Scan Copy

Power of Attorney:

Power of Attorney (document provided by our company); Spanish translation + Spanish notarization + Apostille is required; or the shareholder/legal representative can personally go to Chile for certification.

Process: ApostilleFormat: Physical Copy

Power of Attorney:

Process: ApostilleFormat: Physical Copy

Legal Entity Shareholders's Required Documents

Chile Company Incorporation (SRL)

Chile Company Incorporation (SpA)

Power of Attorney:

Process: ApostilleFormat: Physical Copy

Power of Attorney:

Process: ApostilleFormat: Physical Copy

Company Bylaw:

The company's articles of association of the holding company; Spanish translation + Spanish notarization + Apostille are required; or shareholders/legal persons need to go to Chile for certification.

Process: ApostilleFormat: Physical Copy

Company Bylaw:

The company's articles of association of the holding company; Spanish translation + Spanish notarization + Apostille are required; or shareholders/legal persons need to go to Chile for certification.

Process: ApostilleFormat: Physical Copy

Passport:

Full scan copy of the passport of the company director and UBO.

Process: Not ApplicableFormat: Scan Copy

Passport:

Full scan copy of the passport of the company director and UBO.

Process: ApostilleFormat: Physical Copy

Proof Of Registration / Business License:

Scan copy of the legal entity's business licence, [highlight=rgb(245, 245, 245)]Spanish translation + Spanish notarization + Apostille is required[/highlight]

Process: ApostilleFormat: Physical Copy

Proof Of Registration / Business License:

Scan copy of the legal entity's business licence, [highlight=rgb(245, 245, 245)]Spanish translation + Spanish notarization + Apostille is required[/highlight]

Process: ApostilleFormat: Physical Copy

REQUIREMENTS AND ESTIMATED COST

Who may act as the company's legal representative

For a Chilean company, the SII's list of requirements asks for a legal representative of age, resident in Chile and holding written powers; nationality is not required. A foreign representative needs a residence permit that allows activities in Chile. The role lasts beyond formation, since the SII serves notices on that person until told the representation has ended. This is a different job from the owners' mandatario, though one person may hold both. The company also needs a tax address (domicilio tributario) where it is really run; the SII accepts a virtual office only where the main activity happens there, and may visit.

Reading the requirements

Base cost is the service and government fees; each requirement shows if it is included and what solving it costs; the estimate adds them up.

Base Cost

Chile Company Incorporation (SRL)

Chile Company Incorporation (SpA)

Service Fee:

USD 3,100

Service Fee:

USD 3,100

Requirements

Chile Company Incorporation (SRL)

Chile Company Incorporation (SpA)

Nominee Director / Legal Representative for One Year

To establish a company in Chile, you have to have a director / legal representative.

Included: No · Solution availableEstimated Cost: USD 700 – 6,100

Nominee Director / Legal Representative for One Year

To establish a company in Chile, you have to have a director / legal representative.

Included: No · Solution availableEstimated Cost: USD 700 – 6,100

Estimated Cost

Chile Company Incorporation (SRL)

Chile Company Incorporation (SpA)

Estimated Cost:

USD 3,100 – 9,200

Estimated Cost:

USD 3,100 – 9,200

Check Eligibility And Calculate Price

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TAX

The first SII filing and the taxes that follow

Tax obligations begin with the start of activities (inicio de actividades), filed with the SII under the company's RUT within the two months following the month activities begin (Código Tributario art. 68). That filing sets the regime, Pro-Pyme or general, and with it the corporate tax rate; no electronic invoice can precede it. Each month, Form F29 carries VAT and provisional monthly payments (PPM) toward the annual income tax return (Operación Renta). Profits bear two income taxes: the company's First Category Tax and, when paid to a non-resident owner, the Additional Tax. Today the first is credited against the second, in full for Pro-Pyme companies and residents of jurisdictions with a tax treaty in force, and at 65% otherwise.

Reading the tax data

Rows cover corporate income, withholding, value-added and capital gains tax, plus effective rates, for each jurisdiction.

PwC World Tax Summary OECD Statistics

Corporate Income Tax (CIT)

General CIT Rate:

12.5/15/25/27 (regime-dependent)

CIT Return Due Date:

April 30

CIT Payment Due Date:

April 30

CIT Estimated Payment Due Date:

Monthly, with Form F29: by the 12th of the following month, or the 20th for electronic invoicers who file and pay online.

Withholding Tax (WHT)

Non-Resident Withholding Tax (Dividend/Interest/Royalty):

35/4/30

Value-Added Tax (VAT)

General VAT Rate:

Learn More Value-Added Tax (VAT)

Capital Gain Tax (CGT)

General Capital Gain Tax Rate:

Capital gains are subject to the normal corporate income tax.

Effective Tax Rate (ETR)

Composite Effective Average Tax Rate:

23.44%

Composite Effective Marginal Tax Rate:

4.51%

Conclusion

After Chile company incorporation: licence and bank account

Once registered for tax, the company takes out a patente municipal (municipal business licence) from the municipality where the business operates, under the Ley de Rentas Municipales. Food and health businesses first need a sanitary authorisation; as a rule, even a provisional patente requires it, along with zoning that fits. Capital brought in from abroad may have to go through the Formal Exchange Market and be reported to the Banco Central de Chile. Each bank sets its own requirements for the corporate bank account and works from the company's RUT and the owners' documents. So start the bank's file as soon as the company has its RUT.

Chile

Jurisdiction Overview

About Chile

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