OECD Investment Policy Reviews: Uruguay

Annex C. Additional tables and figures

Table A.C.1.  Product structure of merchandise trade in 2017, by processing stage

In %

	EXPORT
	URU	CHL	CRI*
Capital goods	2.09	2.53	24.48
Consumer goods	17.18	10.53	31.18
Intermediate goods	24.08	40.25	14.07
Raw materials	56.64	46.69	30.27
Total (USD billions)	7.889	69.229	9.908
	IMPORT
	URU	CHL	CRI*
Capital goods	23.86	29.52	24.67
Consumer goods	45.77	43.37	47.62
Intermediate goods	21.95	15.54	21.86
Raw materials	8.42	11.36	5.86
Total (USD billions)	8.458	65.062	15.322

Note: * Data from 2016, the latest available year.

Source: World Integrated Trade Solution database

Table A.C.2.  Trade structure by geographical destinations

EXPORTS	1999			2008			2017
	URU	CHL	CRI	URU	CHL	CRI	URU	CHL	CRI
Latin America	53.47	21.90	16.12	40.31	22.29	26.93	31.83	16.62	32.25
Of which Mercosur1	43.37	9.90	0.26	25.95	8.47	0.85	23.53	8.29	0.46
North America	8.88	19.12	52.58	4.24	14.42	38.83	6.37	16.45	41.82
Europe & Central Asia	21.59	27.66	23.77	27.94	25.81	18.18	16.44	14.94	22.09
Asia	7.61	25.01	6.73	7.36	32.71	14.93	21.71	48.65	3.27
Rest of the world	8.45	6.31	0.80	20.15	4.77	1.13	23.65	3.34	0.57
China	2.65	2.29	0.12	2.89	13.21	6.29	18.78	27.58	0.49
Brazil	24.89	4.49	0.17	16.63	6.00	0.61	16.46	4.97	0.35
Argentina	16.48	4.75	0.06	8.52	1.55	0.11	5.54	1.40	0.08
United States	6.87	18.00	51.94	3.68	12.48	38.23	5.81	14.44	40.96
Japan	1.05	14.60	2.03	0.74	9.83	0.94	0.12	9.31	1.14
IMPORTS	1999			2008			2017
	URU	CHL	CRI	URU	CHL	CRI	URU	CHL	CRI
Latin America	50.95	32.38	22.26	53.34	30.18	28.49	39.18	24.96	22.56
Of which Mercosur	43.54	24.19	2.35	43.22	17.40	3.19	33.79	13.71	2.91
North America	12.71	24.42	55.92	8.08	20.60	39.28	11.54	19.23	38.28
Europe & Central Asia	22.23	22.40	10.52	19.86	14.68	12.92	17.20	16.21	11.49
Asia	9.16	16.05	9.52	14.31	26.85	15.60	28.26	36.21	23.32
Rest of the world
China	2.77	4.74	0.99	10.01	13.03	5.66	20.03	23.83	13.59
Brazil	19.41	6.95	1.67	17.84	8.44	2.75	19.47	8.02	2.15
Argentina	23.70	14.50	0.58	24.81	8.05	0.42	12.58	4.50	0.41
United States	11.27	21.50	54.76	5.95	18.96	38.24	10.91	18.05	37.28
Japan	2.07	4.55	5.02	0.98	5.07	5.38	0.76	3.27	2.71

1. Mercosur includes Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay and excludes Venezuela.

Source: World Integrated Trade Solution database

Table A.C.3.  Private property in Uruguay’s Constitutions

Constitution	Article	Text (in Spanish)
1830	144	“El derecho de propiedad es sagrado e inviolable; a nadie podrá privarse de ella sino conforme a la ley. En el caso de necesitar la Nación la propiedad particular de algún individuo para destinarla a usos públicos, recibirá éste del Tesoro Nacional una justa compensación”.
1918	169	“El derecho de propiedad es sagrado e inviolable. A nadie podrá privarse de él sino conforme a la Ley, en los casos de necesidad o utilidad pública, recibiendo del Tesoro Nacional una justa compensación.”
1934	31	“La propiedad es un derecho inviolable, pero sujeto a lo que dispongan las Leyes que se establecieren por razones de interés general. Nadie podrá ser privado de su derecho de propiedad sino en los casos de necesidad o utilidad públicas establecidos por una Ley y recibiendo siempre del Tesoro Nacional una justa y previa compensación.”
1942	31	“La propiedad es un derecho inviolable, pero sujeto a lo que dispongan las leyes que se establecieren por razones de interés general. Nadie podrá ser privado de su derecho de propiedad sino en los casos de necesidad o utilidad públicas establecidos por una ley y recibiendo siempre del Tesoro Nacional una justa y previa compensación. Cuando se declare la expropiación por causa de necesidad o utilidad públicas, se indemnizará a los propietarios por los daños y perjuicios que sufrieren en razón de la duración del procedimiento expropiatorio, se consume o no la expropiación; incluso los que deriven de las variaciones en el valor de la moneda”.
1952	32	“La propiedad es un derecho inviolable, pero sujeto a lo que dispongan las leyes que se establecieren por razones de interés general. Nadie podrá ser privado de su derecho de propiedad sino en los casos de necesidad o utilidad públicas establecidos por una ley y recibiendo siempre del Tesoro Nacional una justa y previa compensación. Cuando se declare la expropiación por causa de necesidad o utilidad públicas, se indemnizará a los propietarios por los daños y perjuicios que sufrieren en razón de la duración del procedimiento expropiatorio, se consume o no la expropiación; incluso los que deriven de las variaciones en el valor de la moneda”.
1967	7	“Los habitantes de la República tienen derecho a ser protegidos en el goce de su vida, honor, libertad, seguridad, trabajo y propiedad. Nadie puede ser privado de estos derechos sino conforme a las leyes que se establecen por razones de interés general”.
	32	“La propiedad es un derecho inviolable, pero sujeto a lo que dispongan las leyes que se establecieren por razones de interés general. Nadie podrá ser privado de su derecho de propiedad sino en los casos de necesidad o utilidad públicas establecidos por una ley y recibiendo siempre del Tesoro Nacional una justa y previa compensación. Cuando se declare la expropiación por causa de necesidad o utilidad públicas, se indemnizará a los propietarios por los daños y perjuicios que sufrieren en razón de la duración del procedimiento expropiatorio, se consume o no la expropiación; incluso los que deriven de las variaciones en el valor de la moneda”

Source: OECD based on publically available legal documents

Table A.C.4.  Tax incentives for specific sectors

Sector	Benefits	Legal basis
Automobile	Imports subsidy equivalent to 10% of the free-on-board value of the exports of cars and car components	Decree 316/992
Biotechnology and bioengineering	CIT credits for R&D in biotechnology 90% for income generated 2012-2017 75% for income generated 2018-2019 50% for income generated 2020-2021	Decree 011/13 amended by Decree 315/018
Call centres	CIT exemption for 10 years: 70% exemption if they hire more than 100 skilled workers 100% exemption if they hire more than 150 skilled workers	Decree 207/008
Condominiums	Similar benefits to those granted to hotels for the developer	Decree 404/010
Construction of immovable goods for sale or rent	Projects greater than 123 million indexed units (95 million if located in Montevideo). Projects had to be submitted before December 2018. Benefits last until December 2021 Exemption of customs duties VAT credit CIT exemption for 20-30% of the eligible investment (depending on the size of the investment)	Decree 329/016 Decree 326/017 Decree 48/018
Forestry	The commercial exploitation of planted forests is exempt from CIT, net wealth tax and rural cadastral taxes.	Law 15,939 Law 18,083
Maritime and electronics industries	CIT credit: 100% net income generated 2009-2014 75% net income 2015-2016 50% net income 2017-2018 Requirements in terms of employment	Decree 532/009 Decree 127/011
Non-traditional renewable energies	Exemptions from CIT with different percentages on net income and terms (depending on the type of activity).Terms varied from 5 to 13 years.	Decree 354/009
Parking	Construction and rent or sales of parking slots in Montevideo: Exemption from customs duties VAT credit CIT exemption for 20% -50% of the eligible investment for a maximum of 10 years depending on the characteristics of the investment Exemption from net wealth tax for movable goods (and immovable goods for 8 years)	Decree 110/016
Shared service centres provided by an entity belonging to a multinational to other branches	90% CIT credit in the first 5 years if more than 150 high skilled workers (75% Uruguayan) are hired for at least 2 years 90% CIT credit in the first 10 years if more than 300 high skilled workers (75% Uruguayan) are hired for at least 5 years Exemption from net wealth tax	Decree 251/014 Decree 361/017
Software	Software production is exempt from CIT	Decree 150/007 Decree 244/018 Law 19,535
Tourism	investment in infrastructure is exempt from net worth tax for 10 years special depreciation schedules solely for touristic projects (excluding hotels) VAT credits for goods and services bought locally and used in construction and equipment investment	Decree 175/003

Source: Ons and Garcia (2016[1]) and own elaboration

Table A.C.5.  Number of days required to start a business in Uruguay, 2019.

No.	Procedures	Time to Complete	Associated Costs
1	Select and reserve the company name from a list of names provided by the One-Stop Shop online portal Agency : National Audit Office The entrepreneur must select the company’s name from a list of names offered by the One-Stop Shop online portal at https://empresaeneldia.portaldelaempresa.gub.uy/Apia/index.htm	Less than one day (online procedure)	Included in procedure 5
2	Open a bank account and deposit the initial capital Agency : Bank The entrepreneurs need to open a bank account and deposit the initial capital. The bank fees vary by bank. When Act No.18.083 (Tax reform law) became effective, the minimum amount of authorized capital for corporations was eliminated. Consequently, as of July 1, 2007 founders of corporations are free to set the amount of capital.	1 day	USD 200 (Varies by bank)
3	Notarize company's bylaws and signatures Agency : Notary The company's bylaws and signatures must be notarized. 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 15.5%, with a minimum fee of 40 adjustable units (Unidad Reajustable-UR). The UR is published on a monthly basis, and as of May 2018, its value is UYU 1069.99.	1 day	0.5% of capital, minimum 40 U.R. + 15.5% notary tax
4	Register the company at the One-Stop Shop (Empresa en el Día) Agency : One-Stop Shop (Empresa en el Día) Companies are registered at Empresa en el Día (one-stop shop). All documents have to be presented and all registration fees have to be paid at the one-stop shop. Corporations with bearer shares as well as trusts and investment funds shall submit to the Central Bank of Uruguay and affidavit informing “the issuing entity” about their shareholding.	3 days	Included in procedure 5
5	Pay fees and taxes in any local Payment Agency Agency : Payment Agency The company must pay the fees and taxes at a local payment agency. As of May 2018, the current fees are as follows: UYU 2,530 (company registration fee) + UYU 2,530 (book registration fee) + UYU 5,350 (approval of the public deed) + UYU 8,088 (publication in the Official Gazette) + UYU 32,341 (ICOSA tax) + UYU 1070 (name registration) + UYU 160 (professional stamp on Form 0380).	1 day	See procedure details

Source: Government of Uruguay and World Bank Doing Business indicators (2005-2019).