Countries › Uruguay › Guide › 10. Capital markets and finance › Leasing (crédito de uso) and factoring in Uruguay: who may lease, registration, repossession, tax treatment and receivables assignment

Leasing (crédito de uso) and factoring in Uruguay: who may lease, registration, repossession, tax treatment and receivables assignment

Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Stable

Financial leasing is the crédito de uso of Ley Nº 16.072: a financial institution lets the user use an asset for a fixed term against periodic payments, usually with a purchase option, and only financial intermediaries or BCU authorized finance companies may be lessors (art. 1 and 3). The contract is signed with certified signatures, registered at the lessor's request within five business days in the registry for the asset, gives the user a real right, and allows forced return only after two consecutive missed monthly payments (art. 6, 7, 8 and 27). Factoring is regulated in Ley Nº 16.774 art. 45 and 46: receivables from sales, services or works can be assigned globally, including future determinable receivables, and debtors notified by registered telegram or other suitable means.

USD figures use UYU 40.21 per US dollar, the BCU quotation for DLS. USA BILLETE on 27 October 2026; amounts in Unidades Indexadas (UI) use UYU 6.6792 per UI, the BCU quotation for 27 October 2026, and amounts in Unidades Reajustables (UR) use UYU 1,940.77, the IMPO published UR value for September 2026 (the latest published on 27 October 2026). All were retrieved on 27 October 2026. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Who may be lessor under Ley Nº 16.072	Financial intermediaries and BCU authorized exclusively financial companies Ley Nº 16.072 art. 3, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Deadline for the lessor to register the lease	5 business daysLey Nº 16.072 art. 7, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Lease registration validity	5 years, renewableLey Nº 16.072 art. 7, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Missed payments before forced return (monthly or shorter periods)	2 consecutive paymentsLey Nº 16.072 art. 27, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Minimum term for VAT exemption on lease rents	3 yearsLey Nº 16.072 art. 45, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Global assignment of future receivables in factoring	Allowed if determinable Ley Nº 16.774 art. 45, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. The crédito de uso is the credit contract by which a financial institution undertakes to let the user use an asset for a set term and the user pays a periodic price, with a final price or return at the end. It may cover an asset chosen by the user that the institution buys from a named supplier, or an asset the user already owns (sale and leaseback). Only financial intermediaries under Decreto Ley Nº 15.322 and companies of exclusively financial business specially authorized by the BCU may be lessors. Non fungible movables and any real estate may be leased; real estate leases fall under the law where there is a purchase option.
Cost to do it: BCU authorization for non bank lessors; licence costs are not quantified here.
Example: A machinery dealer cannot itself act as lessor under the law; it partners with a bank or an authorized finance company. / A US$250,000 crane chosen by the user can be bought by the bank from the supplier and leased to the user.Ley Nº 16.072 (Crédito de uso), Art. 1, art. 2, art. 3 and art. 5, 1989-10-09 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. The contract must be in a public instrument or a private one with signatures certified by a notary, in triplicate. The lessor must register it within five business days of signing: real estate in the registry of promises to sell real estate by instalments, aircraft, vehicles and ships in their registries, other identifiable goods in the agrarian and industrial pledge registry. Failing that, the lessor owes the user a penalty equal to the first periodic payment plus damages. Registration lapses every five years and may be renewed. Registration gives the user a real right against later sales or charges and an action to recover use.
Cost to do it: Notarial certification and registry fees; the penalty for late registration equals the first periodic payment.
Example: A lessor that registers a vehicle lease ten business days after signing owes the user a penalty equal to the first rent. / On a lease with a first rent of US$8,000 the penalty is US$8,000 plus any damages.Ley Nº 16.072, art. 7 as worded by Ley Nº 16.205, Art. 6, art. 7 and art. 8, 1991-09-06 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. During the term the lessor may not take the asset back and the user may not return it early unless paying all agreed periodic payments with the discount the law provides. Forced return for non payment may be sought only when the user is in default on two consecutive payments where periods are monthly or shorter, or one payment otherwise, through the delivery of goods procedure with limited defences. The lessor has executive action for overdue payments, interest and penalties. During the term the asset may be sold only to another eligible lessor. The user bears maintenance and repairs and is solely liable for damage the asset causes to third parties while in its possession; abandoning the asset to the lessor's detriment is a crime.
Cost to do it: Repossession costs follow the procedural rules; they are not quantified here.
Example: With monthly rents, a lessor may sue for return only after two consecutive unpaid rents. / With quarterly rents of US$30,000, one unpaid quarter is enough.Ley Nº 16.072, art. 27 as worded by Ley Nº 16.906, Art. 9, art. 11, art. 24, art. 27, art. 28, art. 31, art. 32 and art. 36, 1998-01-07 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. Lease rents are exempt from VAT where three conditions are met together: the term is at least three years, the asset is not a non utility vehicle or goods for the home, and the user is a taxpayer of the business or agricultural income taxes named in art. 45 C) (the text still names the pre 2007 taxes IRIC, IRA and IMEBA, so confirm with the DGI how the reference applies today). Otherwise VAT applies on the financial amortization of the lease, while the difference between rents and amortization is exempt for such taxpayers. Lessors get a VAT credit on purchases of assets leased under qualifying contracts. The law also has special income tax rules for leases with purchase options (art. 39 to 44), whose references to the pre 2007 taxes should be checked against the current IRAE title before relying on them.
Cost to do it: VAT saving on qualifying leases; the general VAT rate is on the VAT page.
Example: A five year lease of packing equipment to a business income taxpayer can qualify for the VAT exemption on rents. / A two year lease of a US$60,000 passenger car does not qualify, because the term is under three years and it is a non utility vehicle.Ley Nº 16.072, art. 45 as worded by Ley Nº 16.906, Art. 39 to 46, 1998-01-07 official text · verified 2026-10-27

5. Factoring consists of buying receivables arising from sales of movables, services or works, granting advances on them and assuming their risk or not, possibly with collection management or support services. Receivables must come from the assignor's ordinary business. A global assignment of part or all existing and future receivables is valid if future receivables are determinable, and the agreement may itself be title of transfer. The assignment may be made and notified in the forms of art. 33 and 34: by assignment or by listing the credits with the assignor's consent, and notice to debtors by registered telegram or any suitable means, without showing the title; notice is unnecessary where the debtor waived it in advance.
Cost to do it: Factoring fees are contractual and count toward the usury test where the law applies.
Example: An exporter assigns all its current and future receivables from a named distributor to a factor under one global agreement. / A factor buying US$1,000,000 of invoices notifies the debtors by registered telegram rather than by court process.Ley Nº 16.774, Title V chapters II and V added by Ley Nº 17.202, Art. 33, art. 34, art. 45 and art. 46, 1999-09-24 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Worked example

Equipment lease: a bank buys a US$300,000 (UYU 12,063,000) harvester chosen by a farm company and leases it for five years with monthly rents and a purchase option. The bank registers the contract within five business days in the agrarian and industrial pledge registry; if the farm is a taxpayer within art. 45 C), rents can be VAT exempt because the term is at least three years (art. 7 and 45). If it misses two consecutive rents the bank may sue for return (art. 27).
Receivables finance: a software exporter assigns all present and future invoices to its US distributor to a factor under one contract and notifies the distributor by registered telegram (Ley Nº 16.774 art. 34 and 45).

Step by step

Check that the lessor is a bank or a BCU authorized finance company; otherwise the contract is not a crédito de uso.
Sign with notary certified signatures in triplicate and register within five business days; renew every five years.
Review the term, asset type and user status against art. 45 for the VAT exemption, and confirm the income tax treatment with current DGI rules.
For factoring, define the receivables (existing and future, determinable), choose the transfer form and notify debtors.
Price both products against the usury caps where the law applies.

Common traps

A lease that contravenes Ley Nº 16.072 is not a crédito de uso and may not be registered as such (art. 52).
The lessor pays a penalty equal to the first rent if it does not register within five business days (art. 7).
Passenger cars and household goods never get the VAT exemption on rents (art. 45 B)).
Factored receivables must come from the assignor's ordinary business (Ley Nº 16.774 art. 45).

Sources

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