Countries › Paraguay › Guide › 10. Capital markets and finance › Leasing and trusts in Paraguay: financial and operating leasing, leasing companies, negocios fiduciarios and their special tax treatment

Leasing and trusts in Paraguay: financial and operating leasing, leasing companies, negocios fiduciarios and their special tax treatment

Last verified: 2026-10-28 · Status: Stable

Financial leasing in Paraguay may be offered by leasing companies, bank and finance company subsidiaries, importers, local manufacturers and distributors, foreign suppliers and real estate developers, and the contract must be registered in the registry of the asset to bind third parties. Leasing companies are exclusive object sociedades anónimas licensed by the Banco Central del Paraguay (BCP) with minimum capital of PYG 750 million (1998 base, indexed to CPI) and debt of at most 15 times capital and reserves. Trusts (negocios fiduciarios) create an autonomous estate shielded from the creditors of the settlor and trustee, only banks, finance companies and authorized trust companies may act as trustee, and both regimes keep their own tax rules, which Ley 6380/2019 expressly preserved.

USD figures use PYG 5,868.31 per US dollar, the Banco Central del Paraguay reference quotation for 28 October 2026. Fines tied to the minimum wage use PYG 3,044,000 per month and PYG 117,077 per daily jornal, in force from 1 July 2026 under Resolución MTESS Nº 670/2026. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Minimum capital of a leasing company (1998 base, CPI indexed yearly)	750000000 PYGLey 1295/98 art. 4, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Maximum debt of a leasing company	15 times paid capital and reserves Ley 1295/98 art. 6, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Registration needed for the lease to bind third parties	Yes, in the asset's registry Ley 1295/98 art. 9 and 14, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Who may act as trustee	Banks, finance companies and BCP authorized trust companies Ley 921/96 art. 19, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Maximum trust term before the excess becomes voidable	30 yearsLey 921/96 art. 9, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Trust assets protected from trustee and settlor creditors	Yes, save fraud actions Ley 921/96 art. 10 and 13, as of 2026-10-28 · in force

The rule

1. Who may lease and how. A financial lease is a contract by which the lessor leases to the lessee a building it owns, or a non fungible movable or building chosen by the lessee that the lessor buys for that purpose, in exchange for periodic instalments, with an irrevocable purchase option at a freely agreed residual price. Lessors may be subsidiaries of entities authorized under Ley 861/96, leasing companies, importers for goods they import, local manufacturers and distributors for their goods, foreign suppliers for goods supplied from abroad, and builders or developers for buildings. The contract is made by public deed for registrable goods and by instrument with notarized signatures otherwise; it is valid between the parties without registration, but to operate as a financial lease under the law and against third parties in good faith it must be registered, at the lessor's request, in the property, aircraft, vehicle, ship or registered pledge registry as applicable. The lessor cannot collect the second instalment until it hands the lessee a copy of the registered contract.
Cost to do it: Notary fees freely agreed, and for leases by public deed at most 50 percent of the official notary tariff (art. 82); registry fees.
Example: A Brazilian machinery maker can lease equipment directly to a Paraguayan miller as foreign supplier lessor, registering the contract in the Registro de Prenda con Registro. / A US$250,000 truck fleet lease must be registered in the vehicle registry to bind third parties.Ley Nº 1295/98 De Locación, Arrendamiento o Leasing Financiero y Mercantil, Art. 2, 8, 9, 14 and 16, 1998-08-06 official text · verified 2026-10-28

2. Leasing companies. Leasing companies must be sociedades anónimas named Sociedad Anónima de Locación Financiera or de Leasing Financiero, with registered shares and an object limited to financial and operating leasing, registered with BCP authorization. Their minimum capital is PYG 750,000,000, paid in cash at incorporation, kept constant and updated yearly by the BCP's CPI; a company in deficit at year end must cure it by 30 June, cannot make new operations after that date if not cured and is dissolved by law if the deficit persists at 31 December. They are part of the financial system under Ley 861/96 and their debt cannot exceed 15 times paid capital and reserves.
Cost to do it: Minimum capital PYG 750,000,000 (US$127,805) on the 1998 base, before CPI indexation.
Example: A leasing company with PYG 10,000,000,000 of capital and reserves can borrow at most PYG 150,000,000,000. / With about US$1.70 million of capital and reserves, total debt is capped near US$25.6 million.Ley Nº 1295/98 De Locación, Arrendamiento o Leasing Financiero y Mercantil, Art. 3 to 7, 1998-08-06 official text · verified 2026-10-28

3. Protection and tax treatment of leasing. Creditors of the lessee can only step into its purchase option, and attachments reach only the lessor's claims for instalments and residual value under a registered contract. If the lessor goes bankrupt the contract continues and the lessee may still exercise the option; if the lessee goes bankrupt the trustee chooses to continue or terminate. Recovery of movables follows the civil procedure for delivery of a certain movable. The law's tax chapter sets IVA on each instalment, deferral of IVA on goods imported or bought for leasing, and withholding by the lessee when the lessor is a foreign supplier; Ley 6380/2019, which repealed most special tax regimes, expressly kept the regime of Ley 1295/98.
Cost to do it: IVA on each instalment; confirm current rates and withholding mechanics with DNIT, since the leasing law's tax chapter was written for Ley 125/91.
Example: An importer leasing a tractor it imports can defer import IVA by presenting the registered leasing contract at customs. / A foreign lessor's US$10,000 monthly instalment triggers withholding by the Paraguayan lessee.Ley Nº 1295/98; Ley Nº 6380/2019 De modernización y simplificación del sistema tributario nacional, Ley 1295/98 art. 20, 60, 66, 67 and 69 to 72; Ley 6380/2019 art. 153 num. 5 h), 2019-09-25 official text · verified 2026-10-28

4. Trusts. By a negocio fiduciario a settlor delivers specified assets to a trustee, with or without transfer of ownership, to administer or dispose of them for a purpose for the settlor or a beneficiary. Where ownership is transferred (fideicomiso), the assets form an autonomous estate that is not part of the trustee's creditors' collateral or estate and cannot be pursued by the settlor's creditors, save fraud actions; beneficiaries' creditors reach only the returns. Transfers of registrable assets need a public instrument registered in the asset registry, and real estate trusts are perfected only on deed and registration. Only banks, finance companies and trust companies authorized by the BCP may be trustees; trust companies are exclusive object sociedades anónimas with capital at least equal to that of a finance company, supervised by the Superintendencia de Bancos. A trust is void if the same person is settlor and trustee or trustee and beneficiary, and voidable as to any term beyond 30 years (except for incapable persons and charities). Trustees owe obligations of means, must keep trust assets segregated and prepare separate financial statements for each trust. Ley 6380/2019 expressly preserved the trust law within its scope.
Cost to do it: Trustee fee as agreed; notary fees on a trust deed are calculated on the trustee's fee (art. 6); the law's IVA and stamp tax exemptions (art. 38 and 39) should be checked against Ley 6380/2019 with DNIT.
Example: A developer puts land into a guarantee trust with a bank as trustee; the land is out of reach of the developer's other creditors while the project loan is outstanding. / A US$5 million guarantee trust must use a bank, finance company or licensed trust company as trustee.Ley Nº 921/96 De Negocios Fiduciarios; Ley Nº 6380/2019 art. 153 num. 5 g), Ley 921/96 art. 1, 4, 8 to 10, 12, 13, 19 to 22, 26, 34 and 35, 1996-08-28 official text · verified 2026-10-28

Point	Financial leasing	Trust (fideicomiso)
Law	Ley 1295/98	Ley 921/96
Provider	Leasing companies, bank subsidiaries, importers, manufacturers, distributors, foreign suppliers, developers	Banks, finance companies, trust companies
Third party effect	Registration in the asset registry	Registration for registrable assets; deed and registration for land
Insolvency	Lessee creditors only reach the purchase option	Autonomous estate outside trustee and settlor creditors
Tax	Own regime kept by Ley 6380/2019 art. 153	Own regime kept by Ley 6380/2019 art. 153

Leasing and trusts compared

Worked example

A foreign investor equips a Paraguayan plant with PYG 2,934,155,000 (US$500,000) of imported machinery through a financial lease from a local leasing company: the contract is registered in the Registro de Prenda con Registro, the company defers import IVA by showing the registered contract at customs (Ley 1295/98 art. 71), and the plant pays IVA on each instalment (art. 70). If the plant's other creditors attach the machinery, they reach only the purchase option (art. 20).

Step by step

1. Choose the lessor type and confirm it is allowed under Ley 1295/98 art. 2.
2. Sign by public deed for registrable goods or with notarized signatures otherwise, in three copies.
3. Register the contract in the right registry before or with the second instalment.
4. For a trust, pick a bank, finance company or licensed trust company; transfer registrable assets by public instrument and register.
5. Ask DNIT to confirm how the preserved tax regimes apply under Ley 6380/2019 to the planned structure.

Common traps

An unregistered lease is valid between the parties but does not work as a financial lease against third parties in good faith (Ley 1295/98 art. 9).
A trust where the trustee is also the beneficiary or the settlor is void (Ley 921/96 art. 8).
Leasing companies that fail to cure a capital deficit by 31 December are dissolved by law (Ley 1295/98 art. 4).
Some leasing law clauses still refer to the Comisión Nacional de Valores for bond issues (art. 7 e); issues are now under the Superintendencia de Valores.

Sources

← Secured lending and collateral in Paraguay: registered pledges, open pledges, mortgages for banks, foreign currency security and pledges over book entry securitiesInsurance and reinsurance in Paraguay: licensing, US$500,000 capital per group, foreign branches, the ban on offshore cover and tax on premiums paid abroad →

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