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Uruguay Business Report
General information
Source: The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency
Population
3,369,299 (July 2018 est.)GDP (PPP)
$78.2 billion (2017 est.)Free market economy characterized by an export-oriented agricultural sector, a well-educated workforce, and high levels of social spending
GDP growth rate
2.7% (2017 est.)Medium-high growth rate. Uruguay has been one of the fastest-growing economies of South America in the last 20 years
GDP (PPP) per capita
$22,400 (2017 est.)Medium. The highest in South America after Chile. Moreover, the distribution of income is more equilibrated than Chile
Local currency
Uruguayan peso (UYU)Weak currency: continuous depreciation in the last 7 years
Financial stability (Public debt)
65.7% (2017 est.)Medium to low
Inflation
6.2% (2017 est.)Consistently high over time
Language
Spanish (official)English is spoken as a second language
Corruption perception index (Source: Transparency International)
Rank 23/180Low level of corruption. The lowest level in South America
Duties and tax
Source: PwC World Tax Summaries 2017-2018
VAT
22% standard VAT rate (reduced to 18% or 20% if payment is made through debit cards or electronic money instruments).Reduced rates: 10% (food, medicines, hotel, health services, the first sale of immovable assets), 0% (milk, books, magazines, agricultural machinery, certain bank services).
Corporate Tax
25% standard rate12% withholding tax is imposed on Uruguayan-sourced income obtained by non-residents, except in cases where the income is obtained through the operations of a permanent establishment.
Duties
Quite a complex scenarios with different cases and rates.In general, VAT is applicable on import duties. Plus, there are other duties that are calculated on CIF price: consular duties (3% or 5% rates), customs Services Duty: (0.2%, max USD 50), customs Extraordinary Duty (scale flat duty, max USD 600), Global Customs Duty (from 0% to 35% depending on the origin of goods).
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