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Who regulates what in Paraguay: a map of agencies for investors

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

A company in Paraguay deals mainly with a short list of agencies. The DNIT collects internal taxes and customs duties through two general managements, the Banco Central del Paraguay runs the currency, supervises the financial system and, through its Superintendencia de Valores, the securities market, and IPS collects social security. Companies are opened through the SUACE one stop shop, with the EAS and the beneficial owner registry kept by a directorate of the finance ministry, while the DNM, SEPRELAD, CONACOM, the environment ministry and, from late 2027, a data protection agency cover migration, anti money laundering, competition, environment and data.

USD figures use PYG 5,868.31 per US dollar, the Banco Central del Paraguay reference quotation for 28 October 2026 retrieved on the verification date. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Tax and customs authorityDNIT (Gerencia General de Impuestos Internos; Gerencia General de Aduanas) Ley 7143 art. 1 and 23, as of 2023-08-04 · in force
Central bankBanco Central del Paraguay Ley 489/95 art. 3 (Ley 6104), as of 2018-07-03 · in force
Securities regulatorBCP through the Superintendencia de Valores Ley 7572 art. 3, as of 2025-11-07 · in force
Social security institutionInstituto de Previsión Social (IPS) DL 1860/1950 art. 17, as of 1992-12-03 · in force
AML authority and FIUSEPRELAD Ley 1015 art. 26, as of 1997-01-10 · in force
Competition authorityCONACOM Ley 4956 art. 15, as of 2013-05-29 · in force
Data protection authorityAgencia Nacional de Protección de Datos Personales (MITIC) Ley 7593 art. 34, as of 2025-11-27 · pending
Migration authorityDirección Nacional de Migraciones (DNM) Ley 6984, as of 2022-10-17 · in force
Environment ministryMADES Ley 6123 art. 1, as of 2018-07-05 · in force

The rule

1. DNIT: taxes and customs. The Dirección Nacional de Ingresos Tributarios is an autonomous public law entity related to the Executive through the finance ministry; it applies tax policy and the laws on internal taxes under its competence, their collection and audit. References in earlier laws to the Subsecretaría de Estado de Tributación or the Tax Administration now mean its Gerencia General de Impuestos Internos, and references to the Dirección Nacional de Aduanas mean its Gerencia General de Aduanas.Ley Nº 7143/2023 Que crea la Dirección Nacional de Ingresos Tributarios, Art. 1, 2 and 23, 2023-08-04 official text · verified 2026-10-28
2. Banco Central del Paraguay: currency and financial system. The fundamental objectives of the BCP are to preserve and safeguard the stability of the value of the currency and to promote the efficiency, integrity and stability of the financial system.Ley Nº 489/95 as amended by Ley Nº 6104/2018, Art. 3 (text of Ley 6104 art. 1), 2018-07-03 official text · verified 2026-10-28
3. Superintendencia de Valores: securities and products market. The BCP is the enforcement authority of the securities and products market law and supervises and controls that market through the Superintendencia de Valores; entities supervised by other authorities are also subject to the BCP and the Superintendencia in their market activity.Ley Nº 7572/2025 Mercado de Valores y Productos, Art. 3, 2025-11-07 official text · verified 2026-10-28
4. Instituto de Previsión Social: social security. IPS receives the monthly worker contribution of 9 percent and the employer contribution of 14 percent of wages, and collects the additional 2.5 percent employer contribution, part of which it transfers to the health and labor ministries while its share phases in.Decreto Ley Nº 1860/1950 art. 17 (Ley Nº 98/1992) and 17 bis (Ley Nº 7446/2024), Art. 17 a) and b); Ley 7446 art. 9, 2024-12-30 official text · verified 2026-10-28
5. Ministry of Labor (MTESS) and CONASAM: wages and labor administration. The labor authority regulates and publishes the minimum wage adjustment decided by the Executive on the proposal of the Consejo Nacional de Salarios Mínimos (CONASAM), which has one representative each of the State, workers and employers under Código del Trabajo art. 252 as amended by Ley 2199/2003; Resolución MTESS 670/2026 sets the 2026 values.Resolución MTESS Nº 670/2026; Código del Trabajo art. 252 and 255, Res. 670 recitals and art. 1, 2026-07 official text · verified 2026-10-28
6. SUACE and the company registries. The EAS is filed only through the Sistema Unificado de Apertura y Cierre de Empresas (SUACE), which passes it to the finance ministry registry. Per the MIC comparison sheet, the EAS is registered with the Dirección General de Personas y Estructuras Jurídicas y Beneficiarios Finales, and the S.A. and S.R.L. with the legal persons and commerce section of the Dirección General de los Registros Públicos.Ley Nº 6480/2020; MIC SUACE company comparison sheet, Ley 6480 art. 2, 3 and 8; MIC sheet registration row, 2020-01-08 official text · verified 2026-10-28
7. Beneficial owner registry and data sharing. The finance ministry keeps the registry of legal persons and structures and of beneficial owners, reports every two months to the BCP, SEPRELAD and the tax administration the list of compliant entities, publishes the compliance list every six months, and gives online access to the BCP, the tax administration, SEPRELAD and obliged AML parties.Ley Nº 6446/2019, Art. 10, 11 and 13, 2019-11-29 official text · verified 2026-10-28
8. Dirección Nacional de Migraciones: entry, residence and fees. The DNM grants temporary and permanent residence, imposes migration fines and charges residence fees in jornales; employers must inform it when they employ an immigrant.Ley Nº 6984/2022 De Migraciones, Art. 7, 46, 47, 89 and 100, 2022-10-17 official text · verified 2026-10-28
9. MIC investment directorate: Investor Certificate. The SUACE Dirección de Inversiones y Regímenes Especiales evaluates the business plan, issues the Investor Certificate for direct permanent residence and reports issued certificates to the DNM, without prejudice to SEPRELAD's powers.Resolución MIC Nº 0283/2026, Art. 2, 4 and 5, 2026-04-21 official text · verified 2026-10-28
10. SEPRELAD: anti money laundering. The Secretaría de Prevención de Lavado de Dinero o Bienes, under the Presidency, is the enforcement authority of the anti money laundering law and has a financial analysis unit that evaluates the reports it receives.Ley Nº 1015/1997 (as amended, including by Ley Nº 6497/2019), Art. 26 and following, 1997-01-10 official text · verified 2026-10-28
11. CONACOM: competition. The Comisión Nacional de la Competencia is the enforcement authority of the competition law, a public law entity with its own legal personality; economic concentrations covered by the law must be notified to it within 10 days of signing.Ley Nº 4956/2013 De Defensa de la Competencia (sanctioned 29 May 2013), Art. 14 and 15, 2013-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-28
12. Data protection agency (from late 2027). Ley 7593/2025 creates the Agencia Nacional de Protección de Datos Personales as a deconcentrated unit of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies, with national directorate rank, as control and supervision authority; the law takes effect 24 months after its publication of 27 November 2025.Ley Nº 7593/2025, Art. 34 and 57, 2025-11-27 official text · verified 2026-10-28
13. Ministry of Environment (MADES). The former environment secretariat was raised to ministry rank as the Ministerio del Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible, to design, set, supervise, audit and evaluate national environmental policy.Ley Nº 6123/2018, Art. 1, 2018-07-05 official text · verified 2026-10-28
NeedAgencyNorm
Open an EASSUACE, finance ministry registryLey 6480 art. 8
Open an S.A. or S.R.L.SUACE, Dirección General de los Registros PúblicosMIC sheet
Beneficial ownersFinance ministry beneficial owner directorateLey 6446
RUC, IVA, IRE, IDU, INRDNIT, Gerencia General de Impuestos InternosLey 7143 art. 23
Imports and exportsDNIT, Gerencia General de AduanasLey 7143 art. 23
FX, banks, paymentsBanco Central del ParaguayLey 489/95 art. 3
Bonds, shares, fundsBCP, Superintendencia de ValoresLey 7572 art. 3
Payroll contributionsIPSDL 1860/1950 art. 17
Minimum wage, labor administrationMTESS, CONASAMRes. MTESS 670/2026
Residence and foreign staffDNM; MIC for the Investor CertificateLey 6984; Res. MIC 0283/2026
AML reportingSEPRELADLey 1015 art. 26
Mergers and antitrustCONACOMLey 4956 art. 14 and 15
Environmental licensing and policyMADESLey 6123
Personal data (from late 2027)Agencia Nacional de Protección de Datos PersonalesLey 7593 art. 34

Agency map for a foreign owned company

Worked example

  • A foreign food exporter setting up in Asunción meets SUACE for the EAS, the finance ministry registry for beneficial owners, the DNIT for its RUC and for customs through the Gerencia General de Aduanas, its bank (supervised by the BCP) for the capital wire, IPS and the MTESS for staff, MADES for the plant's environmental file and the DNM for an expatriate manager.

Step by step

  1. List each activity and map it to the agency in the table above.
  2. Use SUACE as the entry point for company formation and the Investor Certificate.
  3. Read old laws' references to the SET or the Dirección Nacional de Aduanas as references to the DNIT general managements.
  4. If the business is a bank, insurer, broker, fund or issuer, plan for BCP or Superintendencia de Valores licensing before launch.
  5. Check whether a merger or acquisition must be notified to CONACOM within 10 days of signing.

Common traps

  • The EAS and the S.A. or S.R.L. are registered with different bodies, so certificates of existence come from different places.
  • Beneficial owner data flows to the BCP, the tax administration and SEPRELAD, so inconsistencies across filings are visible to all of them.
  • The data protection agency does not exist in practice until the law takes effect 24 months after November 2025 publication.

Sources

Related pages

Related: Paraguay country profile · live dashboard · central bank and release calendar · our posts on X

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