Countries › Chile › Guide › 3. Investing › Tax stability contracts under Ley Nº 21.850: 10, 15 or 20 years for projects of US$50 million or more, what is frozen, the 1.5 point price and how it is lost

Tax stability contracts under Ley Nº 21.850: 10, 15 or 20 years for projects of US$50 million or more, what is frozen, the 1.5 point price and how it is lost

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

From 1 January 2027 investors in mining, industrial, forestry, energy, infrastructure, telecommunications, research, technology, medical or scientific projects of at least US$50 million can sign a contract with the Ministry of Finance that freezes the income tax burden in force on the contract date for 10, 15 or 20 years from start up, depending on size. The price is a surcharge of 1.5 percentage points on the corporate rate fixed in the contract, a separate tax ledger for the project, audited statements filed with the CMF, and a cap of three times tax equity on related party debt. Mining projects can also freeze the royalty and mining licence fees, and disputes go to mediation by InvestChile and then arbitration, though never over the SII's audit and assessment powers.

USD figures use the dólar observado of CLP 972.60 per US dollar for 1 October 2026, the latest value shown in the SII dólar observado table on the verification date. UTM amounts use the October 2026 UTM of CLP 72,151 and UTA of CLP 865,812, and UF amounts the UF of CLP 41,221.08 for 26 October 2026, all published by the SII. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Minimum investment for a tax stability contract	50000000 USDLey Nº 21.850 art. 26 Nº 1, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Longest stability term (investments of US$350 million or more)	20 yearsLey Nº 21.850 art. 26 Nº 2 A, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Stability term for US$50 million to under US$100 million	10 yearsLey Nº 21.850 art. 26 Nº 2 A, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Stability term for US$100 million to under US$350 million	15 yearsLey Nº 21.850 art. 26 Nº 2 A, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Surcharge on the contract corporate rate	1.5 percentage pointsLey Nº 21.850 art. 26 Nº 2 C, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Maximum related party debt	3 times tax equityLey Nº 21.850 art. 26 Nº 2 A, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Maximum period to bring in capital, mining	10 yearsLey Nº 21.850 art. 26 Nº 1, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Maximum period to bring in capital, other projects	5 yearsLey Nº 21.850 art. 26 Nº 1, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Date contracts become available	2027-01-01 dateLey Nº 21.850 art. 26, as of 2026-10-26 · pending
General corporate (first category) rate from commercial year 2029	23 %Ley Nº 21.850 sixth transitory article, as of 2026-10-26 · pending

The rule

1. From 1 January 2027 a tax invariability regime is created for investors, both foreign and local. Foreign investors as defined in art. 3 of Ley Nº 20.848 that sign a foreign investment contract for mining, industrial, forestry, energy, infrastructure, telecommunications, research, technological development, medical or scientific projects involving at least US$50 million may opt for it. Contracts are in writing and may be signed electronically as the Ministry of Finance regulation provides; the Ministry of Finance signs for the State after a report by InvestChile, which receives applications and documents through a platform and acts as the link with the Ministry. The receiving companies are those that received the investment directly or in which the project is carried out.
Cost to do it: No application fee is set in the law. The ongoing cost is the 1.5 point rate surcharge, separate tax accounting, external audit and CMF reporting.
Example: Minimum ticket: CLP 48,630,000,000. / Minimum ticket: US$50,000,000, counting equity plus debt actually deployed.Ley Nº 21.850 (National Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development Law), Art. 26, opening paragraph and Nº 1, first to third paragraphs, 2026-10-17 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: New regime created by Ley Nº 21.850, published in the Diario Oficial on 17 October 2026, available from 1 January 2027.

2. To access the regime, investors must provide information making the lawful origin of the funds presumable, the financial capacity of the business group and other project information set by regulation, and must declare, by type of project, estimated direct and indirect employment, expected national and regional supply chains, and a territorial relations plan where the project has significant impacts on specific communities or territories. The application must describe the project in detail and may include the investment schedule and environmental effects; the company that will carry out the project, if already organised, must be a party. Signing a contract does not approve the project; ordinary law still applies to its development.Ley Nº 21.850 (National Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development Law), Art. 26 Nº 1, fourth, fifth, sixth and ninth paragraphs, 2026-10-17 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: New regime created by Ley Nº 21.850, published in the Diario Oficial on 17 October 2026, available from 1 January 2027.

3. The contract sets the period within which capital must be brought in: no more than ten years for mining investments and five years for others, counted from signature. Receiving companies must have annual financial statements externally audited and file individual and consolidated quarterly and annual statements with the Comisión para el Mercado Financiero (CMF), plus an annual report with ownership information, on terms the CMF sets by a resolution to be published in the Diario Oficial within six months of the law. If a receiving company fails to file, the Ministry of Finance may by reasoned resolution cancel the rights for that company and all foreign investors in it. Reorganisations involving the investor, its controllers or the receiving companies must be reported to the Ministry of Finance and the SII under a regulation due within six months.Ley Nº 21.850 (National Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development Law), Art. 26 Nº 1, seventh, eighth and tenth paragraphs, 2026-10-17 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: New regime created by Ley Nº 21.850, published in the Diario Oficial on 17 October 2026, available from 1 January 2027.

4. Stability terms, counted from start up (the year in which gross income from the main business is received or accrues): 10 years for investments of US$50 million to under US$100 million; 15 years for US$100 million to under US$350 million; 20 years for US$350 million or more. Where amounts vary substantially for supervening reasons, the investor may ask to adjust the term to the band reached. Investment includes equity and debt actually deployed in the project, granted directly or indirectly to the receiving company, but related party debt (in the sense of art. 41 F of the income tax law) may never exceed three times the company's tax equity; if it does at a year end, the stability is lost.
Example: Tax equity of CLP 38,904,000,000 caps related party debt at CLP 116,712,000,000. / Tax equity of US$40,000,000 allows up to US$120,000,000 of related party debt; one dollar more at 31 December loses the stability.Ley Nº 21.850 (National Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development Law), Art. 26 Nº 2 letter A, 2026-10-17 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: New regime created by Ley Nº 21.850, published in the Diario Oficial on 17 October 2026, available from 1 January 2027.

5. The baseline frozen is the rate, tax base and other elements of the tax in force on the contract date: investors are entitled, for the covered investment, to a total effective income tax burden equal to that applicable under the rules in force on that date. Customs duties follow the ordinary regime for domestic investment, but the VAT and customs treatment of imported capital goods under DL 825 art. 12 B Nº 10 can be frozen while the investment is being made. Contracts must also freeze, for the same terms, SII resolutions, administrative interpretations and circulars in force on signature on depreciation, loss carryforward and organisation and start up costs, and include any SII authorisation to keep accounts in foreign currency. Exporting projects may freeze the laws and regulations on the right to export freely. Invariability cannot be used to cut tax artificially through structures without economic substance, and the general anti avoidance rules of the Tax Code (art. 4 bis to 4 quinquies, 100 bis and 160 bis) apply.Ley Nº 21.850 (National Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development Law), Art. 26 Nº 2 letter B, first to fifth paragraphs and letters a) and b), 2026-10-17 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: New regime created by Ley Nº 21.850, published in the Diario Oficial on 17 October 2026, available from 1 January 2027.

6. Mining projects also get the right to keep unchanged the law in force on signature for the mining royalty of art. 1 of Ley Nº 21.591, so they are not affected by a higher rate, a wider base or any change that makes it more burdensome; not to be subject to any new mining specific tax, royalty, fee, contribution or similar charge based on mining income, investments or assets; and not to be affected by changes that make the exploration and exploitation licence fees of Title X of the Mining Code more burdensome.Ley Nº 21.850 (National Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development Law), Art. 26 Nº 2 letter B, letter c), 2026-10-17 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: New regime created by Ley Nº 21.850, published in the Diario Oficial on 17 October 2026, available from 1 January 2027.

7. Price of stability: for income attributable to the covered investment, the first category tax rate fixed in the contract is increased by 1.5 percentage points. For the credit rules of art. 14 letter A Nº 5 of the income tax law, that increased rate counts as the first category rate in force under the company's regime at the close of the year of the withdrawal, remittance or distribution.
Cost to do it: 1.5 percentage points on the contract rate, on income attributable to the covered investment, every year of the term.
Example: On CLP 14,589,000,000 of attributable taxable income with a 23 percent contract rate, tax is CLP 3,574,305,000 at 24.5 percent, of which CLP 218,835,000 is the surcharge. / On US$15,000,000 of attributable income: US$3,675,000 at 24.5 percent, of which US$225,000 is the surcharge.Ley Nº 21.850 (National Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development Law), Art. 26 Nº 2 letter C, 2026-10-17 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: New regime created by Ley Nº 21.850, published in the Diario Oficial on 17 October 2026, available from 1 January 2027.

8. Non discrimination: foreign investment and companies in which it participates are subject to the ordinary legal regime for domestic investment and may not be discriminated against directly or indirectly. Rules applying to most of a productive activity while excluding foreign investment, or sectoral or regional special regimes closed to foreign investment that meets the same conditions, are discriminatory. An affected investor may ask the Ministry of Finance to remove the discrimination within one year of the rule; the Ministry must decide within 60 business days, and if it does not, refuses, or cannot fix it administratively, the investor may go to the ordinary courts.Ley Nº 21.850 (National Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development Law), Art. 26 Nº 2 letter D, 2026-10-17 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: New regime created by Ley Nº 21.850, published in the Diario Oficial on 17 October 2026, available from 1 January 2027.

9. Renunciation and loss: an investor may renounce stability once and join the ordinary tax regime, losing it permanently. If a contract covers several foreign investors, one investor's renunciation ends stability for all of them and for the receiving company, unless the contract provides that renunciation only has that effect when the renouncing investors hold more than a set percentage of the investment actually made. Stability is lost totally or partially upon a final conviction for a tax crime or a finding under the Tax Code's anti avoidance articles 4 bis to 4 quinquies.Ley Nº 21.850 (National Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development Law), Art. 26 Nº 3, 2026-10-17 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: New regime created by Ley Nº 21.850, published in the Diario Oficial on 17 October 2026, available from 1 January 2027.

10. Local investors domiciled, resident, established or organised in Chile that meet the same requirements may access the same regime, with the same rights, requirements and terms, including separate accounting; the personal final income tax (global complementario) of resident investors is not covered.Ley Nº 21.850 (National Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development Law), Art. 26 Nº 4, 2026-10-17 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: New regime created by Ley Nº 21.850, published in the Diario Oficial on 17 October 2026, available from 1 January 2027.

11. The receiving company must keep separate accounts, treating the covered investment as a separate entity for tax purposes only. The Ministry of Finance and the investor agree, on signature, how results are determined: by default total profit is split in proportion to the assets of each part in the audited financial statements, but the investor may ask for another method based on art. 41 E (transfer pricing) of the income tax law, and the parties may later change it by agreement. The SII will issue a resolution on how to comply.Ley Nº 21.850 (National Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development Law), Art. 26 Nº 5, 2026-10-17 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: New regime created by Ley Nº 21.850, published in the Diario Oficial on 17 October 2026, available from 1 January 2027.

12. Disputes between the State and the investor over the interpretation, application, performance, validity or termination of the contract must go to mediation, with InvestChile as mediator and the relevant agency as a party. If mediation fails, the foreign investor may require arbitration on those contract matters only; arbitration never extends to the powers of State bodies, in particular the SII's audit, interpretation, assessment and collection powers, which remain with the competent courts. Once arbitration starts and until the award is notified, the Tax Code limitation periods linked to the dispute are suspended. The Ministry of Finance must set, by regulation within six months of the law, the minimum terms of the arbitration clause. Every three years the Ministry must publish a report on compliance, fiscal impact, investment, jobs and regional effects, and keep a record of the surcharge collected.Ley Nº 21.850 (National Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development Law), Art. 26 Nº 6 and Nº 7, 2026-10-17 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: New regime created by Ley Nº 21.850, published in the Diario Oficial on 17 October 2026, available from 1 January 2027.

13. Within the first 60 days of each half year, the Ministries of Finance and Economy must send Congress a consolidated report, published as open data, on the number, amount and regional location of stability contracts signed, the revenue collected under them, and other items.Ley Nº 21.850 (National Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development Law), Art. 34, 2026-10-17 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: New regime created by Ley Nº 21.850, published in the Diario Oficial on 17 October 2026, available from 1 January 2027.

14. The general first category tax rate falls to 25.5 percent for income of commercial year 2027, 24 percent for 2028 and 23 percent from 2029, after 27 percent for 2026; the 27 and 25.5 percent steps do not apply to taxpayers under art. 14 letter G of the income tax law.Ley Nº 21.850 (National Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development Law), Sixth transitory article, 2026-10-17 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: Rate path set by Ley Nº 21.850 (Diario Oficial 17 October 2026).

Investment (equity plus debt deployed)	Approximate CLP	Term from start up
US$50 million to under US$100 million	CLP 48,630,000,000 to under CLP 97,260,000,000	10 years
US$100 million to under US$350 million	CLP 97,260,000,000 to under CLP 340,410,000,000	15 years
US$350 million or more	CLP 340,410,000,000 or more	20 years

Stability bands (Ley Nº 21.850 art. 26 Nº 2 A). CLP at CLP 972.60 per US dollar.

Item	Frozen?	Period	Rule
Total effective income tax burden (rate, base, other elements)	Yes	Band term	Nº 2 B
SII rulings on depreciation, losses, start up costs; foreign currency accounting authorisation	Yes	Band term	Nº 2 B a)
Right to export freely (exporting projects)	Yes	Up to band term	Nº 2 B b)
Mining royalty, new mining specific charges, mining licence fees	Yes, mining only	Band term	Nº 2 B c)
VAT and duties on imported capital goods	Yes	While the investment is made	Nº 2 B
General customs duties	No; ordinary regime	Not applicable	Nº 2 B
Resident investors' personal final tax	No	Not applicable	Nº 4

What can be frozen, and for how long.

Worked example

A foreign group signs a contract in 2027 for a US$120,000,000 (CLP 116,712,000,000) lithium refining plant, falling in the 15 year band from the first year of revenue. Assume the contract fixes a 23 percent rate, the rate the law sets from 2029.
In a year when the receiving company earns US$20,000,000 (CLP 19,452,000,000) of taxable profit and the covered project holds 75 percent of its assets, US$15,000,000 is attributed to the contract and taxed at 24.5 percent, US$3,675,000 (CLP 3,574,305,000); the other US$5,000,000 pays the general rate, US$1,150,000 (CLP 1,118,490,000) at 23 percent.
The insurance premium is US$225,000 (CLP 218,835,000) a year. If a future law raised the general rate to 27 percent, the covered income would still pay 24.5 percent, a saving of US$375,000 a year on US$15,000,000. If related party debt at any year end exceeds three times tax equity, or one co investor renounces without a threshold clause, the protection ends.

Step by step

1. Size the project: at least US$50 million of equity plus deployed debt, in an eligible sector; pick the band and check the start up year definition.
2. Model the 1.5 point premium against the risk of tax increases over the term, including the mining royalty for mining projects.
3. Prepare evidence of lawful origin of funds and group financial capacity, employment and supply chain estimates, and a territorial relations plan where communities are affected.
4. File through InvestChile's platform with a detailed project description; include the receiving company as a party if it already exists.
5. Negotiate the contract: capital entry period (up to 10 years mining, 5 others), profit allocation method, renunciation threshold among co investors, arbitration terms.
6. After signing, set up separate tax accounts, external audit and CMF filings, and calendar the related party debt test at every year end.
7. Report any reorganisation to the Ministry of Finance and the SII under the regulation; watch for the Ministry regulations and CMF resolution due within six months of the law.

Common traps

Treating the contract as a permit. Signing approves nothing; environmental and sector permits still follow ordinary law (art. 26 Nº 1).
Debt creep. Related party debt above three times tax equity at a single year end forfeits stability (Nº 2 A).
Co investor renunciation. Without a percentage threshold in the contract, one investor's renunciation ends stability for all and for the receiving company (Nº 3 A).
Missing CMF filings. Failure to file statements on time can lead to cancellation of rights for the company and all its foreign investors (Nº 1).
Aggressive structuring. Structures without economic substance trigger the Tax Code anti avoidance rules, and a finding of abuse or simulation, or a tax crime conviction, can forfeit stability (Nº 2 B and Nº 3 B).
Expecting arbitration over SII assessments. Arbitration covers the contract only; audits and assessments go to the tax courts (Nº 6).
Assuming regulations are in place. Several pieces (Ministry regulations on reorganisations and arbitration, the CMF resolution, the SII resolution on separate accounts) are still to be issued.

Sources

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