Countries › Dominican Republic › Guide › 4. Entities and setup › Branch of a foreign company in the Dominican Republic: registering in the Registro Mercantil, the RNC and the 10% tax on remittances to head office

Branch of a foreign company in the Dominican Republic: registering in the Registro Mercantil, the RNC and the 10% tax on remittances to head office

Argentina. For full detail on Argentina, go to The Argentine Thread.

Last verified: 2026-10-30 · Status: Changing

A foreign company that sets up a branch or trades habitually must register in the Registro Mercantil of its chosen domicile and, if it has tax obligations, obtain an RNC. It stays the same legal person, governed by home law on existence and by Dominican law for local operations. A branch is taxed like a company on income attributable to it and withholds 10% when it remits profits to head office.

USD figures use the Banco Central de la República Dominicana spot reference selling rate of RD$60.9007 per US dollar for 29 October 2026, rounded to the cent.

Key facts

Branch is a separate legal person	No Ley 479-08 art. 11 and art. 53, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Minimum assigned capital	None stated in the law DOPLey 479-08 art. 11, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Santo Domingo fee, foreign company without capital	15000 DOPChamber schedule in force from 1 December 2022, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Tax on remittances to head office	10 %Código Tributario art. 308 paragraph II, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
General corporate income tax rate	27 %Ley 30-26 art. 15 (art. 297), as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Rate used for USD conversions	60.9007 DOP per USDBanco Central spot reference selling rate, 29 October 2026, as of 2026-10-29 · in force

The rule

1. Foreign companies are recognized as of right once their legal existence is shown. Home law governs existence, capacity, functioning and dissolution, and Dominican law governs local operations (art. 11). They have the same rights and duties as local companies save exceptions in law, and need not post a court bond as plaintiffs (art. 11, paragraph III).Ley 479-08, General de las Sociedades Comerciales y Empresas Individuales de Responsabilidad Limitada, as amended by Ley 31-11, art. 11, 2011-02-08 official text · verified 2026-10-30

2. Registration is mandatory if the company sets up a branch or permanent establishment to carry out its object habitually or trades habitually in the country; it must also join the RNC if those activities create tax obligations (art. 11, paragraph I). Isolated acts, litigation and investing in shares or quotas do not require registration (art. 11, paragraph II).Ley 479-08, General de las Sociedades Comerciales y Empresas Individuales de Responsabilidad Limitada, as amended by Ley 31-11, art. 11 paragraphs I and II, 2011-02-08 official text · verified 2026-10-30

3. A foreign company's domicile is its main establishment or the representative's office in each jurisdiction, and it records that domicile in the Registro Mercantil of that jurisdiction (art. 8, paragraph). A branch is an establishment run by mandataries with power to represent the company; an agency's administrators lack that power (art. 53).Ley 479-08, General de las Sociedades Comerciales y Empresas Individuales de Responsabilidad Limitada, as amended by Ley 31-11, art. 8 and art. 53, 2011-02-08 official text · verified 2026-10-30

4. The Santo Domingo chamber requires originals or certified copies of the constitutive documents and later amendments, documents showing current holders, minutes of the corporate body fixing the domicile and giving jurisdiction to the chamber, a certificate of good standing or incorporation, identity documents and the RD$50 Colegio de Abogados contribution. Documents of the registering company must carry an apostille in the country of origin and a Spanish translation by a judicial interpreter where applicable; documents of corporate holders are supporting papers that need translation but no apostille. The checklist does not ask for a receipt for the 1% tax.
Cost to do it: Santo Domingo fee for a foreign company without capital: RD$15,000 (about US$246.30) to register, RD$9,800 (about US$160.92) to renew, RD$4,500 (about US$73.89) per modification.Cámara de Comercio y Producción de Santo Domingo, foreign company requirements under Ley 3-02, Section A, Matriculación, 2026-10-30 official text · verified 2026-10-30

5. A non resident with income through a permanent establishment pays tax on all income attributable to it under the rules for legal entities, without becoming resident. A branch and an office are listed as permanent establishments, and consulting services count when they exceed six months within a year (art. 270, paragraphs I and II).Código Tributario, Ley 11-92, art. 270 as amended by Ley 253-12, art. 270, 2012-11-09 official text · verified 2026-10-30

6. Permanent establishments must withhold and pay the same 10% as dividends when they remit amounts to head office for this or a similar concept (art. 308, paragraph II). The general rate on legal entities stays at 27%, with 30% for 2026 to 2028 for taxpayers with income from RD$1,000 million.
Example: A branch remits RD$1,000,000 of after tax profit: RD$100,000 is withheld and RD$900,000 reaches head office. / On about US$16,420.17, about US$1,642.02 is withheld and US$14,778.16 arrives.Código Tributario art. 308 as amended by Ley 253-12; art. 297 as restated by Ley 30-26, art. 308 paragraph II; Ley 30-26 art. 15, 2026-06-18 official text · verified 2026-10-30 · changed: Ley 30-26 of 18 June 2026 restated art. 297 and added the transitional 30% rate; it did not rewrite art. 308 as far as the text reviewed shows.

7. Non resident entities acting through a permanent establishment must keep updated information on their beneficial owners (art. 50(c), paragraph I of the Código Tributario).Ley 155-17, amending art. 50 of the Código Tributario, art. 104, 2017-06-01 official text · verified 2026-10-30

Worked example

A foreign engineering firm registers a branch without capital in Santo Domingo for RD$15,000 (about US$246.30) plus RD$50 per document. If it later earns RD$10,000,000 of taxable income at 27%, it pays RD$2,700,000 (about US$44,334.47), and a remittance of the remaining RD$7,300,000 bears RD$730,000 (about US$11,986.73) under art. 308, paragraph II, before any treaty.

Step by step

Obtain certified corporate documents and the good standing certificate at home.
Add the apostille and Spanish translations.
Have the board fix the domicile and appoint the local representative.
File with the chamber of that domicile.
Register for the RNC, including beneficial owner data, and for employer duties if hiring.

Common traps

The branch does not cap exposure: the foreign company itself answers for local debts.
Apostille rules differ between the registering company and its corporate holders, so check each paper against the chamber list.
A project that drifts past six months of consulting within a year can create a permanent establishment even without registration (art. 270).
For an Argentine parent, FX and tax on the Argentine side need separate review; see The Argentine Thread guide.

Sources

← Empresa individual de responsabilidad limitada (E.I.R.L.) in the Dominican Republic: one natural person, a separate estate and no minimum capital in the lawCompany setup costs and timeline in the Dominican Republic: 1% tax until 2026, chamber fees by capital band, ONAPI name and RNC →

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