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Getting paid for exports and paying for imports: no repatriation or surrender rule, how trade finance is reported, and the stamp tax on deferred import payments

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

Chilean exporters may keep their foreign currency proceeds abroad or in Chile and convert them when and where they choose, and importers may pay suppliers without Central Bank approval: payments for goods and services are not among the operations that must currently go through the formal FX market or be reported by the parties. Trade finance is different: export prepayments and loans are credits from abroad that must be channelled and reported, and imports paid after customs clearance bear stamp tax of 0.066 percent per month up to 0.8 percent. The Central Bank could impose export return rules, but only within limits fixed by law and never prior deposits on trade.

USD figures use the Central Bank exchange rate of CLP 986.58 per US dollar published in the Diario Oficial for 23 October 2026 (Ley Nº 18.840 art. 44 and CNCI Chapter I, Section VII). UF values use UF 1 = CLP 41,205.16 (23 October 2026) and UTM values use UTM 1 = CLP 72,151 (October 2026), both as published by the Servicio de Impuestos Internos. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Obligation to bring home or convert export proceeds	None in force textCNCI Chapter I, Section V; Ley Nº 18.840 art. 42, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Central Bank authorization needed to pay imports of goods	No; prior authorization is barred by law textLey Nº 18.840 art. 49 Nº 3, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Minimum term the Bank could set to bring home export proceeds	90 daysLey Nº 18.840 art. 42 Nº 1, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Stamp tax on deferred import payments per month	0.066 %DL Nº 3.475 art. 3, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Stamp tax cap on deferred import payments	0.8 %DL Nº 3.475 art. 3, as of 2026-10-26 · in force

The rule

1. Only operations on foreign assets and liabilities (credits, deposits, investments and capital contributions) and certain derivatives currently have to go through the formal FX market and be reported by the parties; operations not on that list, such as collecting export proceeds or paying for imports of goods and services, need not be channelled through the formal market or reported, although they may be voluntarily. When the money moves through a bank, the bank reports the transfer as part of its spot and transfer reporting.FX Compendium (CNCI) approved by Central Bank Agreement Nº 2617-03-240125, in force from 1 January 2026, CNCI Chapter I, Section V; Chapter II, Letter B, Section I, 2024-01-30 official text · verified 2026-10-26

2. Credits and buyer advances used to finance exports are credits from abroad under the Compendium, so an export prepayment or pre export loan of US$10,000 or more must come through the formal market (unless funded abroad) and be reported, with the financial terms report if it reaches US$1,000,000.
Example: A buyer advance of CLP 493,290,000 to a fruit exporter is reported through the exporter's bank as a credit from abroad. / US$500,000 advance: inflow report only; at US$1,000,000 the exporter also reports the financial terms.FX Compendium (CNCI) approved by Central Bank Agreement Nº 2617-03-240125, in force from 1 January 2026, CNCI Chapter I, Annex Nº 5, Section IV letter c); Chapter II, Letter B, Section IV, Nº 19 and 20 c), 2024-01-30 official text · verified 2026-10-26

3. The Central Bank could require, by a majority of the full Council, that export proceeds be brought home and converted in the formal market, but the return term could not be less than 90 days from shipment and the conversion term not less than 10 days after that; payment is presumed to occur within 180 days of shipment. It could extend or waive these duties, exempt small or non commercial operations or proceeds used to pay imports, and require exporters in breach to post guarantees of up to 50 percent of new operations. None of this is applied today.Ley Nº 18.840, Organic Constitutional Law of the Banco Central de Chile, Art. 42 Nº 1 and 2 and art. 49 Nº 1, 1989-10-10 official text · verified 2026-10-26

4. Payments for imports of goods and their costs can never be subject to prior Central Bank authorization; the Bank could at most defer access to the formal market for those payments up to 180 days after shipment, for goods shipped after the measure. FX operations related to imports and exports of goods always remain free even if formal market entities are restricted, and the Bank can never require prior deposits or other requirements not in the law for exports and imports of goods.Ley Nº 18.840, Organic Constitutional Law of the Banco Central de Chile, Art. 49 Nº 3, Nº 4 and final paragraph, 1989-10-10 official text · verified 2026-10-26

5. If it uses its trade channelling powers, the Bank may check that the values of exported and imported goods and services match normal international market values. The exporter or importer may file a valuation document before the operation, and the Bank must approve or object within 15 business days (silence means the declared value stands). Objections may be appealed within 10 banking business days to a commission chaired by the national economic prosecutor, which decides within 10 banking business days, and then to the Santiago Court of Appeals. This is without prejudice to Customs and SII valuation rules.Ley Nº 18.840, Organic Constitutional Law of the Banco Central de Chile, Art. 45 and art. 46, 1989-10-10 official text · verified 2026-10-26

6. Documents needed for an import (or for entry into a free zone) under collections, letters of credit, deferred cover or any system in which the price or the financing is paid after acceptance of the customs entry bear a single stamp tax of 0.066 percent per month or fraction between customs acceptance and the date the foreign currency for the payment is bought, on the amount paid excluding interest, capped at 0.8 percent. It accrues when the bank sells the currency (or when the payment abroad is made) and is paid in the month after it accrues.
Cost to do it: 0.066 percent per month, up to 0.8 percent of the amount paid: at most US$8,000 (CLP 7,892,640) on a US$1,000,000 import.
Example: An import of CLP 493,290,000 paid 4 months after customs acceptance bears 0.264 percent, CLP 1,302,286. / US$500,000 paid 4 months after acceptance: US$1,320; paid at sight before acceptance: no tax under art. 3.Decreto Ley Nº 3.475, stamp tax law, Art. 3, art. 14 and art. 15 Nº 4, 1980-09-04 official text · verified 2026-10-26

Flow	Must use formal market and be reported by the parties?	Tax or charge	Rule
Export proceeds collected abroad or in Chile	No	None from FX law	CNCI I, V
Payment for imported goods at sight	No	None from FX law	CNCI I, V; LOC 49 Nº 3
Import paid after customs acceptance	No	Stamp tax 0.066 percent per month, cap 0.8 percent	DL 3.475 art. 3
Buyer advance or pre export loan of US$10,000 or more (CLP 9,865,800)	Yes, as a credit from abroad	Stamp tax on credit operations if documented or booked in Chile	CNCI Annex 5, IV c); DL 3.475 art. 1 Nº 3
Payment for imported services or royalties	No	Withholding tax under DL Nº 824 art. 59 where applicable	CNCI I, V

FX treatment of common trade flows in Chile (CNCI Chapter I, Section V and Annex Nº 5; Ley Nº 18.840; DL Nº 3.475). CLP at 986.58 per US dollar.

Worked example

A wine exporter ships US$800,000 (CLP 789,264,000) to the United States and keeps the proceeds in a US dollar account abroad to pay a foreign supplier. No Central Bank rule requires the proceeds to come home or be converted, and collecting them is not a reportable operation for the exporter (CNCI Chapter I, Section V).
The same exporter imports bottling equipment for US$500,000, cleared through customs on 1 March and paid on 25 June with dollars bought from its bank. Four months or fractions have elapsed, so the bank collects stamp tax of 0.264 percent, US$1,320 (CLP 1,302,286), under DL Nº 3.475 art. 3.
A Chinese buyer advances US$1,200,000 against next season's exports. That advance is a credit from abroad: it is channelled through the exporter's bank and, because it exceeds US$1,000,000, the exporter reports its financial terms (CNCI Nº 20 c).
For trade with Argentina, Chilean FX law imposes nothing extra on the Chilean side; payment timing and access to dollars on the Argentine side follow Argentine rules, covered in the Argentine guide.

Step by step

1. Decide where to hold export proceeds; no Chilean surrender rule applies.
2. Classify any advance, prepayment or trade loan as a credit from abroad and give the bank the operation type when the money arrives.
3. For deferred import payments, budget stamp tax from customs acceptance to the date dollars are bought.
4. Keep customs documents, invoices and bank confirmations together; Customs and the SII supervise FX rule compliance within their powers.
5. For imported services and royalties, check withholding tax before paying (see Taxes: withholding on remittances).

Common traps

Treating a customer prepayment as an ordinary receivable. Buyer advances that finance exports are credits from abroad and must be reported.
Paying an import on long credit without budgeting stamp tax. It runs at 0.066 percent per month from customs acceptance, up to 0.8 percent.
Assuming an old export return rule still applies. No return or surrender obligation is in force under the 2026 Compendium.
Confusing FX freedom with customs freedom. Customs, VAT and tariffs still apply in full (see Trade: importing and exporting).

Sources

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