Chile · Tax regime
Article 3 LIR Three-Year Foreign Income Exemption
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Last verified July 2026
Confirmed live. SII FAQ ID 001.140.1219.015, updated 8 April 2026. Ley 21.713 did not touch art. 3 LIR.
Three years of foreign-income exemption is short by regional standards. Uruguay offers eleven. But it is automatic, requires no investment, and can be extended at the authorities' discretion with no statutory ceiling. It is the least-known planning tool in the Southern Cone, and it pairs with the region's best passport.
Qualifying routes
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New foreign resident
three years of Chilean-source-only taxation, counted from entry to Chile, extendable by the SII Director Regional in what the law calls qualified cases, with no statutory cap
The facts
- Total landed cost
- no cost, though an extension application requires a reasoned submission to the SII
- Route type
- Tax regime, not a visa
- Physical presence
- The exemption runs from entry, so the clock burns whether or not you are present.
- Family
- Individual. Each spouse has their own three years
- Permanent residency
- Not applicable
- Citizenship
- Not applicable
- Language test
- Not applicable
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- become a Chilean tax resident as a foreignerno prior Chilean tax residencya reasoned application to the SII if you want an extension beyond three years
What can go wrong
- Three years is short, and the clock starts on entry, not on election. Restructuring must be planned from day one.
- The extension is discretionary, granted only in what the law calls qualified cases, and depends on the SII Director Regional. It is not a right and should not be assumed in a base-case model.
- It is only available to foreigners. Returning Chileans do not qualify (Oficio 2123/2018).
- Once it expires, you fall into worldwide taxation at rates up to 40%, plus the CFC rules under art. 41 G, which Ley 21.713 tightened from 1 January 2025. The cliff is steep. Model your exit before you commit to the entry.
- Chile has no wealth tax and no exit tax. Both were part of the Boric reform rejected on 8 March 2023, though some secondary sources still describe them as if they were enacted. Disregard those sources.
- Chile participates in CRS, but the United States does not. It uses FATCA instead. If your client holds US accounts, the information flows differently, and you should not assume the two systems mirror each other.