MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Government plans taxing overseas assets of residents in Uruguay
Uruguay is planning to tax deposits and other assets held overseas by residents in the country. The bill which has been drafted and promises to be controversial is expected to be sent for legislative consideration in coming days announced Economy minister Fernando Lorenzo. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesThis would be a HUGE mistake for this country. Talk about an exodus of capital, and an absolute drop in the number of those seeking residency/citizenship. A positive image of UY has been created so that many foreigners have invested much and plan to invest more. Many are leaving countries that uses such tactics. All that will be left are Uruguayans that have no major assets or holdings-tax that!
May 26th, 2010 - 11:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Our family just arrived 2 months ago, ready to make UY home....unless.................
DON'T DO IT !!! Nothing good, in the long run, for the people of Uruguay, can come from this. Many people worldwide may be considering or planning to move here to create jobs. Economic growth will stop. More businesses employing more people is the answer for government revenue. Taxing worldwide income and a loss of privacy for the citizens is not.
May 27th, 2010 - 01:08 am - Link - Report abuse 0The news today of this possibility is spreading like wildfire through the expat channels- I personally know those who are changing their travel plans from coming to begin their residency paperwork to other Plan Bs...this is such a big mistake....the most wise import UY can bring is capital and investments and now this could become a place to avoid...and I just got here....
May 27th, 2010 - 10:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0We made an exploratory visit to Uruguay in January and have plane tickets for next month when we planned to look for property and a house. However, due to this legislation, we will be cancelling our plans to move to Uruguay because we simply cannot afford to pay taxes to two countries on our property and income. This is sad since we would have been bringing new capital and resources to Uruguay which would have provided additional employment for people in Uruguay.
May 28th, 2010 - 07:27 am - Link - Report abuse 0We, too, had decided to move to Uruguay after our exploratory trip a couple months ago, but this new proposed law has us concerned. Uruguay's concern for its peoples privacy and reasonable taxtion were attractive to us, but this new law would put Uruguay in the same league as the US, which we are leaving for those exact problems amongst others.
May 29th, 2010 - 05:29 pm - Link - Report abuse 0We will wait now to see if this new law in fact is passed and exactly what it says before coming down to Uruguay. Sad to see this happen to Uruguay and its people.
Why is it that politiicians and governments seem incapable of learning from history and the mistakes made by other governments?
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Jun 04th, 2010 - 12:23 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Unfortunately, much of what the press articles and blogs have been saying is much more alarming than the reality. It has been said that Uruguay will tax:
· its corporate vehicles’ offshore assets
· foreign residents’ assets
· foreign residents’ income
That is incorrect.
The problem was originated because a draft of a proposed change to a tax law was leaked ten days ago. That draft is still a work in progress. And the proposed change only aims to tax the money that Uruguayans have abroad, not foreigners who come to Uruguay.
Here’s the exact situation of where the issue stands on the three supposed taxes:
Taxes on corporate vehicles’ offshore assets: Last Friday, May 28th, the Ministry of Finance, where the bill proposal is being discussed, issued an official statement clarifying one issue of the proposed bill: that there will be no new taxes on Uruguayan companies, and that their offshore assets will not be taxed. Explicitly: that nothing will change for Uruguayan corporate vehicles. So, Uruguay remains an offshore tax free jurisdiction.
Taxes on foreign residents’ assets: It has been made clear from the start that assets owned abroad by foreign residents in Uruguay will not be taxed at all. This was never in doubt. This is only for citizens (at a very small scale; and remember that this asset tax is gradually being phased out since 2007, and will disappear by 2017).
Taxes on foreign residents’ income: Some types of income (not all) generated abroad could be taxed. But the aim of the law is to tax the money that Uruguayans have abroad, not foreigners who come to Uruguay. The Ministry of Finance issued a second statement on June 1st, clarifying that the law will in no way jeopardize the country’s policy of attracting foreigners to relocate in Uruguay. And that their income will not be taxed. The likelihood is that on income tax (on
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