Setting Up a Business in Uruguay

An in-depth guide for foreign entrepreneurs and companies looking to enter the Uruguayan market — a small, politically stable economy often used as a genuinely reliable regional base for operations across South America, built around three purpose-designed advantages: software, shared services, and regional holdings.
This guide covers legal structures (the SRL, with no local director required), business taxation — including a genuinely rare 0% IRAE rate for qualifying software and related IT activity, full VAT exemption on tech exports, and the mature Free Trade Zone regime (Zonamerica) offering full exemption from corporate tax, VAT, and import duties — company formation, the cost of labor, and immigration, where standard residency relies on economic activity rather than a dedicated entrepreneur visa. Includes a genuinely current note on the January 2026 reform (Law 20.446) tightening the new-resident tax exemption regime. An operational checklist and useful contacts round out the guide.
Available in English and Spanish.