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Returning capital from a Chilean company: capital reductions, the imputation order, the February deadline and Central Bank reporting

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Last verified: 2026-10-26 · Status: Stable

A foreign owner can take capital back out of a Chilean company without tax, but only after every profit register is exhausted, because distributions are imputed to taxable profits first and to capital last. The capital reduction must be formally adopted, in an S.A. by two thirds of the voting shares with a 30 day wait after the Diario Oficial extract, and formalized by February of the year after the payment. For non residents, the exemption from additional tax covers only capital actually brought into Chile, and each remittance of US$10,000 or more is reported to the Central Bank through the bank.

USD figures use the Central Bank exchange rate of CLP 986.58 per US dollar published in the Diario Oficial for 23 October 2026 (CNCI Chapter I, Title VII). UF and UTA values are the SII figures for October 2026 (UF 41,221.08 on 26 October; UTA CLP 865,812). Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

S.A. vote to reduce capital	66.67 % of voting sharesLey Nº 18.046, art. 67 Nº 5, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Days after the Diario Oficial extract before capital can be returned (S.A.)	30 daysLey Nº 18.046, art. 28, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Deadline to formalize a capital decrease for tax free imputation	February of the following year dateDL Nº 824, art. 14 letter A) Nº 4 (v), as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Minimum amount of foreign capital operations subject to CNCI channelling and reporting	10000 USDCNCI Chapter II, Letter B, Section IV, Nº 19, as of 2026-10-26 · in force

The rule

1. Any resolution to reduce an S.A.'s capital needs two thirds of the voting shares, and the company may not pay out or return capital, or buy back the shares through which the reduction is carried out, until 30 days have passed since the Diario Oficial publication of the extract of the amendment. Within 10 days of that publication, a prominent notice of the reduction and its amount must also be published in a national newspaper and, for open corporations with a website, on that site.
Cost to do it: Notary, registry inscription, Diario Oficial extract (1 UTM, CLP 72,151, unless capital is under 5,000 UF) and a newspaper notice.
Example: Capital decrease adopted and published on 2 November 2026: the CLP 1,479,870,000 cannot be paid before 2 December 2026. / A US$1,500,000 return of capital waits 30 days after the extract is published.Ley Nº 18.046, Ley sobre Sociedades Anónimas, Art. 28 and art. 67 Nº 5, 1981-10-22 official text · verified 2026-10-26

2. If the company becomes the debtor in an insolvency liquidation, the claims of company creditors of any class prevail over shareholders' claims arising from a capital reduction, and art. 287 of the insolvency law applies to payments already made to shareholders.
Cost to do it: Exposure to return payments already received if the company later enters liquidation.Ley Nº 18.046, Ley sobre Sociedades Anónimas, Art. 29, 1981-10-22 official text · verified 2026-10-26

3. Capital returns are not income up to the contribution or acquisition value of the owner's interest and its CPI adjustments, provided they are not capitalized profits that must bear tax. Amounts withdrawn, remitted or distributed as capital returns are imputed and taxed in the order set by art. 14.
Cost to do it: No tax on the portion that is genuinely capital.Decreto Ley Nº 824, Ley sobre Impuesto a la Renta, Art. 17 Nº 7, 1974-12-31 official text · verified 2026-10-26

4. Withdrawals, remittances and distributions of the year are imputed at year end, CPI adjusted and in chronological order: first to taxable profits (RAI register), then to the DDAN register, then to income with tax already paid, exempt income and non income in the REX register, then to book profits in excess of tax profits, and only then to capital and its CPI adjustment up to the owner's share. Amounts imputed to capital are tax free only if formalized as a capital decrease under the rules of the company type by February of the year after the distribution at the latest; any excess beyond all these items is taxed.
Cost to do it: Profits reached before capital bear the owners' final taxes.
Example: A company with CLP 394,632,000 in its RAI register and nothing in DDAN, REX or excess book profits pays CLP 1,479,870,000 as a capital return: CLP 394,632,000 is taxed as a dividend and CLP 1,085,238,000 is capital. / Of a US$1,500,000 payment, US$400,000 is taxed as profit and US$1,100,000 is tax free capital.Decreto Ley Nº 824, Ley sobre Impuesto a la Renta, Art. 14 letter A) Nº 4 (i) to (vi), 1974-12-31 official text · verified 2026-10-26

5. Non residents pay additional tax on distributions by Chilean S.A.s made under arts. 14, 17 Nº 7 and 38 bis, but capital returns are excluded only up to the amount of capital actually brought into Chile under DL Nº 600, the Central Bank's organic law and other legal provisions in force.
Cost to do it: 35 percent additional tax, with corporate tax credit, on any return above the capital brought into Chile.Decreto Ley Nº 824, Ley sobre Impuesto a la Renta, Art. 58 Nº 2, first paragraph, 1974-12-31 official text · verified 2026-10-26

6. Loans, deposits, investments and capital contributions with foreign counterparties of US$10,000 or more by persons that are not institutional investors must be carried out through the formal FX market, unless the funds are used abroad, and reported to the Central Bank. Payments or remittances abroad of capital, interest, adjustments, profits and other benefits on those operations must be reported: through the bank that handles the remittance when paid from Chile, or directly by the Chilean resident when paid abroad. The rules in force on the payment date govern the remittance.
Cost to do it: No Central Bank fee; bank FX spread and wire charges.
Example: A capital return of CLP 9,865,800 reaches the reporting threshold. / Any capital remittance of US$10,000 or more is reported through the remitting bank.FX Compendium (CNCI), Central Bank Agreement Nº 2617-03-240125, Chapter II, Letter B, Section IV, Nº 18, 19, 22 and 34, 2024-01-30 official text · verified 2026-10-26

Order	Register or item	Tax effect for a non resident
1	RAI: taxable profits	Additional tax 35 percent with corporate tax credit
2	DDAN: accelerated depreciation difference	Additional tax 35 percent with credit
3	REX: tax paid income, exempt income, non income	No tax (unless exempt only from global complementary tax)
4	Book profits in excess of tax profits	Additional tax
5	Capital and CPI adjustment	No tax if formalized by February of next year and within capital brought into Chile (art. 58 Nº 2)
6	Any excess	Additional tax

Imputation order for distributions (DL Nº 824 art. 14 letter A) Nº 4).

Item	US$	CLP
Imputed to RAI (dividend)	400,000	394,632,000
Grossed up base (400,000 / 0.73)	547,945	540,591,578
Additional tax 35 percent	191,781	189,207,299
Less corporate tax credit (27/73)	147,945	145,959,578
Tax due, treaty owner	43,836	43,247,721
Plus restitution 35 percent of credit, non treaty owner (credits to 2026)	51,781	51,086,099
Imputed to capital, tax free	1,100,000	1,085,238,000

Example: US$1,500,000 paid as capital return when US$400,000 sits in RAI with a 27 percent corporate tax credit (DL Nº 824 art. 14, 58 and 74 Nº 4). CLP at 986.58.

Worked example

A foreign parent contributed US$2,000,000 (CLP 1,973,160,000) to its Chilean SpA through a bank, which reported the contribution to the Central Bank (CNCI Section IV). It now wants US$1,500,000 (CLP 1,479,870,000) back while keeping the company.
The SpA has US$400,000 (CLP 394,632,000) of taxable profits in RAI. Under the imputation order, that amount is a dividend and only US$1,100,000 (CLP 1,085,238,000) is capital (DL Nº 824 art. 14 A Nº 4). If it first pays a dividend of the RAI, the rest is capital.
With a 27 percent credit the dividend bears US$43,836 after credit for a treaty owner, or US$95,617 including restitution for a non treaty owner on credits accumulated to 2026 (art. 63 and 74 Nº 4).
The decrease is formalized under the SpA's bylaws (and S.A. rules by default) by February of the next year, and the remittance is made through the bank, which reports it as a payment of capital (CNCI Section IV, Nº 34). Where the parent is Argentine, the Chile Argentina treaty listed by the SII decides whether restitution applies; the Argentine treatment is in the Argentine guide.

Step by step

1. Reconcile the company's RAI, DDAN, REX and book profits at the expected year end; capital is reached only after all of them (DL Nº 824 art. 14 A Nº 4).
2. Gather the bank and Central Bank reports evidencing capital brought into Chile (art. 58 Nº 2; CNCI Section IV).
3. Adopt the capital decrease: two thirds of voting shares in an S.A., or as the SpA bylaws provide (Ley Nº 18.046 art. 28 and 67; Código de Comercio art. 424).
4. Register and publish the extract and the newspaper notice, and wait 30 days before paying in an S.A. (art. 28).
5. Pay through a bank of the formal FX market, which reports the remittance (CNCI Nº 34), and apply any additional tax withholding by the 12th of the following month (DL Nº 824 art. 79).
6. Make sure the decrease is formalized by February of the following year.

Common traps

Calling a payment a capital return does not make it one; profits are reached first (DL Nº 824 art. 14 A Nº 4).
Missing the February formalization deadline makes the amount imputed to capital taxable (art. 14 A Nº 4 (v)).
Paying before the 30 day wait in an S.A. breaches art. 28 of Ley Nº 18.046.
Capital never brought into Chile through the formal channel is hard to prove for the art. 58 Nº 2 exclusion.
If the company later enters liquidation, creditors rank ahead of shareholders' capital reduction claims and payments may be challenged (Ley Nº 18.046 art. 29).

Sources

← Termination of business with the SII: the two month filing, the closing tax on undistributed profits, review periods and deemed closuresTaking retained profits out on exit: dividend withholding, the corporate tax credit, the end of restitution and the 10 percent window on old profits →