Chile

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Business Environment

General information: Kwintessential Chile , Information regarding business etiquette and customs.
Opening hours and days: Banks: Monday to Friday, from 9.00 to 14.00.
Public administrations: from Monday to Friday from 9.00 to 14.00.
Businesses in the town centre : from Monday to Friday from 10.00 till 19.00 and on Saturday from 10.00 to 14.00.
Small businesses of district :from Monday to Friday from 10.00 to 13.00 and from 16.00 to 20.00.
Shopping centres: from Monday to Saturday from 10.00 to 21.00 and on Sunday from 11.00 to 20.00.
Supermarkets : every day from 8.00 to 21.00.

New Year	1st January
Good Friday	Varies
May Day	1st May
Navy Day	21st May
Corpus Christi	4th June
Feast of Saints Peter and Paul	2nd July
Feast of the Assumption	15th August
Fiestas Patrias	18th and 19th September
Hispanic World Day	15th October
All Saints Day	1st November
Feast of the Immaculate Conception	8th December
Christmas	25th December

Christmas, New Year and summer vacation period

Businesses slow down during the summer and for a period from the end of December and the middle of February

Tax year: The fiscal year begins on January 1-st and ends on December 31 of the same year.
Accounting standards: IFRS, International Financial Reporting Standards
Accounting regulation bodies: Ministry of Finance
Accounting reports: - stocks: they are calculated with the " First in - First out " method.
- fixed assets: buildings, shares and bonds bought by the company.
- capitalization interests : interests incurred on fixed assets (shares and bonds).
- depreciations : there are several calculating methods for depreciations.
- investments and long-term fundings.
- research and development costs : they must be registered and paid off over a period of more than 6 years.
- interests for bills relative to accounts receivable and payable.
- provisions for redundancy payment.
- long term contracts.
- extraordinary costs : they appear in the profit and loss account.
Publication requirements: Companies have to produce their annual financial statement to the shareholders.
The account books must be published in Spanish and use the Chilean currency as reference.
Professional accountancy bodies: Chile National College of Accountants
Certification and auditing: External audits are compulsory for companies with capital and foreign investors with repatriated profits.
Accounting news: Finance news online
"El Mercurio" Financial News

Nature of the tax: Value Added Tax
Tax rate: 19%
Reduced tax rate: Are exempted of VAT exports, certain financial services, insurance, news services, technical services, consultancy and transport.
Other consumption taxes: A tax of 51% is applied to cigars; in the case of cigarettes the tax is 60.04%. These taxes apply to the selling price to the final customer. A tax on fuel is applied to producers and importers. Diesel fuel is subject to a rate of 1.5 UTM per m³. Petrol for cars is subject to a rate of 6 UTM per m³.

Company tax: 17%.
Capital gains taxation: Capital gains are included in gross income subject to First Category tax with certain exceptions.
Main allowable deductions and tax credit: None
Other corporate taxes: Revenue from a Chilean source distributed to non-resident shareholders is subject to 35% tax. This revenue includes profits received from foreign companies. Chile has signed fiscal agreements with many countries including Canada.

The rate depends on monthly units of levy	The value of a unit in CLP is revalued each month
Lower than 13,5 units	0%
13,5-30 units	5%
30-50 units	10%
50-70 units	15%
70-90 units	25%
90-120 units	32%
120-150 units	37%
Beyond 150 units	40%

Allowable deductions and tax credit: Tax credit of 10% and other fixed deductions are allowed.
Special expatriate tax regime: There are no fiscal advantages for expatriates.

Countries with whom a double taxation treaty have been signed: See the list of the convention signed
Whithholding taxes: Dividends: 35%, Interest: 35%, Royalties: 30%

National organizations: The body in charge of protecting patents and trademarks in Chile is the Departamento de Propiedad Industrial in Santiago.
Chile signed the Agreement of Paris for the protection of industrial property, as well as the agreement establishing the World Intellectual property Organisation (WIPO). Patents that were obtained in other countries are valid in Chile until expiration of their normal date of validity.
Regional organizations: The issue of intellectual property is addressed in the treaty of MERCOSUR which includes Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia.

Type of property and law	Validity	International agreements signed
Patent Law 19039	16 years maximum
Trademark Law 19039	10 years	Trademark law treaty Nice agreement Protocol relating to the Madrid Agreement
Design Patents Act 1991	maximum 16 years
Copyright Intellectual Property Law 17336	For the author during his lifetime. For special cases see Copyright Law Chile
Industrial Models Patent law no. 19039	5 years

Independence of justice: Judiciary is independent.
Equal treatment of nationals and foreigners: Foreign nationals in the country can enjoy treatment at par with the natives from the judiciary, including commercial disputes.
The language of justice: The judicial language in the country is Spanish.
Recourse to an interpreter: Access to an interpreter is possible.
Sources of the law and legal similarities: The main source of the law is the constitution of 1980 (amended several times). The country's legal system is based on Code of 1857 derived from Spanish law and subsequent codes influenced by French and Austrian law as well as various judicial reviews of the legislative acts by the Supreme Court. Chile has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction. In June 2005, Chile completed overhauled its criminal justice system to adopt a new US-style adversarial system.
Checking national laws online: US Resource page for Chilean law

National standards organizations: National Standards Committee Chile
Integration in the international standards network: The organisation controlling the system of certification and accreditation on quality control and normalisation is "el Instituto Nacional de Normalización" (INN). Usually the degree of application of the standards is not very high and varies according to the sectors. The existing standards mainly applicable to construction, food, fuels, safety, wood and electricity sectors.
Classification of standards: Chilean Standards
Online consultation of standards: A list of standards in use in Chile is available on the site of the National Standards Committee
Certification organizations: National Standards Committee Chile

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