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Dominican business and legal glossary: Spanish terms explained in English

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

Dominican law, forms and contracts use terms and acronyms with exact legal meanings. This page explains the ones investors meet first: taxes and forms such as ITBIS, RNC, IR-2 and e-CF, company terms, labor terms such as preaviso and cesantía, and how a law takes effect. Spanish is the official language, the peso is the currency, and each term links to its norm.

Key facts

Official language	Spanish textConstitución art. 29, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
National currency	Peso Dominicano (DOP) textConstitución art. 229, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Law deemed known in the Distrito Nacional	1 day after publicationCódigo Civil art. 1, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Law deemed known in the provinces	2 days after publicationCódigo Civil art. 1, as of 2026-10-30 · in force

The rule

1. Spanish is the official language.Constitución 2024, art. 29, 2024-10-27 official text · verified 2026-10-30

2. The national currency is the Peso Dominicano.Constitución 2024, art. 229, 2024-10-27 official text · verified 2026-10-30

3. A law passed by both chambers goes to the Executive, who promulgates it within ten days of receipt, or five if declared urgent, and publishes it within ten days of promulgation.Constitución 2024, art. 101, 2024-10-27 official text · verified 2026-10-30

4. Laws bind once the terms for being deemed known have run, and they apply only to the future, except when favourable to a person on trial or serving a sentence. No law may affect legal certainty from situations established under prior law.Constitución 2024, art. 109 and art. 110, 2024-10-27 official text · verified 2026-10-30

5. Laws are published in the Gaceta Oficial, and unless a law says otherwise are deemed known in the Distrito Nacional the day after publication and in the provinces on the second day. The same rule applies to resolutions, decrees and regulations of the Executive.Código Civil, art. 1, 1949 official text · verified 2026-10-30

6. Ratified treaties apply internally once officially published.Constitución 2024, art. 26 number 2, 2024-10-27 official text · verified 2026-10-30

7. Preaviso is notice given by the party ending a contract by desahucio, starting at seven days after three to six months of service.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 76, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

8. Auxilio de cesantía is paid by the employer who uses desahucio, starting at six days of ordinary salary after three to six months of service.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 80, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

9. Salario de Navidad is one twelfth of the ordinary salary earned in the calendar year, paid by 20 December.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 219 and art. 220, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

10. Profit share is 10% of net annual profit, distributed to indefinite workers.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 223, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

11. The RNC is obtained on form RC-02 with annexes and the Registro Mercantil certificate.DGII, steps to register a legal entity, Step 2, 2026-06-01 official text · verified 2026-10-30

12. Companies choose a fiscal year end of 31 December, or another date allowed by the code.Ley 11-92, Código Tributario, art. 300, 1992-05-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

Term	Meaning	Where
Acto constitutivo	Constitutive document of a company	Ley 479-08 art. 15
Anticipo	Monthly or periodic income tax advance	Ley 11-92 art. 314
Apostilla	Hague certificate on a foreign public document	HCCH
Asamblea	Meeting of partners or shareholders	Ley 479-08 art. 110, art. 190
Auxilio de cesantía	Severance paid by an employer who ends an indefinite contract without cause	Ley 16-92 art. 80
Banco Central	Central bank	Ley 183-02 art. 15
Beneficiario final	Beneficial owner, a natural person	Ley 155-17 art. 104
Cámara de Comercio y Producción	Chamber that runs the Registro Mercantil	Ley 3-02
Comisario de cuentas	Statutory examiner	Ley 479-08 art. 110
Desahucio	Ending an indefinite contract with notice and no cause	Ley 16-92 art. 76
DGII	Dirección General de Impuestos Internos, the tax authority	Ley 227-06
e-CF	Comprobante fiscal electrónico, the electronic fiscal receipt	DGII notice 17-26
E.I.R.L.	One person limited liability business for a natural person	Ley 479-08
Formatos 606, 607, 608	Monthly purchase, sale and voided receipt data	DGII guide
Gaceta Oficial	Official gazette	Código Civil art. 1
Gerente	Manager of an S.R.L.	Ley 479-08
Impuesto sobre Activos	Yearly 1% asset tax	Ley 11-92 Title V
IR-1	Annual income tax return of individuals	DGII guide
IR-2	Annual income tax return of companies	DGII guide
IR-3	Monthly return of salary withholding	DGII guide
IR-13	Annual summary of salary withholding	DGII guide
IR-17	Monthly return of other withholding	DGII guide
ISR	Impuesto Sobre la Renta, income tax	Ley 11-92 Title II
IT-1	Monthly ITBIS return	DGII guide
ITBIS	Value added tax, 18%	Ley 11-92 Title III
Jurisdicción Inmobiliaria	Land courts and registry system	Ley 108-05
Junta Monetaria	Monetary board	Ley 183-02 art. 9
Mipyme	Micro, small or medium enterprise	Ley 488-08
Norma General	General tax rule from DGII	Ley 11-92 art. 34, art. 35
Oficina Virtual	DGII online filing office	DGII guide
Participación en los beneficios	Legal 10% profit share, often called bonificación	Ley 16-92 art. 223
Preaviso	Notice period before desahucio	Ley 16-92 art. 76
RC-02	Form to register or update a legal entity	DGII steps
Registro Mercantil	Commercial registry	Ley 3-02
RNC	Registro Nacional de Contribuyentes, the tax number	DGII steps
S.A.	Sociedad anónima	Ley 479-08
S.A.S.	Sociedad anónima simplificada	Ley 479-08
S.R.L.	Sociedad de responsabilidad limitada	Ley 479-08 art. 89
Salario de Navidad	Christmas salary, one twelfth of ordinary pay	Ley 16-92 art. 219
Salario Mínimo Nacional	Base for social security caps	TSS notice
SIRLA	Ministerio de Trabajo labor registration system	Ministry sheet
SUIR	Social security information and collection system	TSS questions
TSS	Tesorería de la Seguridad Social	Ley 87-01 art. 28
Zona franca	Free zone under Ley 8-90	Ley 8-90

Spanish terms you will meet in Dominican documents

Worked example

A contract signed in English often needs a Spanish translation for use before Dominican bodies: the chamber asks for a judicial interpreter on foreign documents, and the term cesantía in a Dominican employment letter is a statutory severance, not a redundancy plan.

Step by step

Search the table for the term.
Follow the norm to the full rule.
Use the Spanish term in filings and contracts, with the English as a gloss.

Common traps

Bonificación in Dominican use usually means the legal profit share, not a discretionary bonus.
Cesantía is due on desahucio, not on every exit.
The word regalía can refer to the Christmas salary in payroll talk and to royalties in tax talk. Use salario de Navidad to avoid doubt.

Sources

← Who regulates what in the Dominican Republic: a map of agencies for investorsDominican Republic economy at a glance: growth, prices, rates, the peso and the banks →

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