Chile Cuts Stamp Duty in Response to Coronavirus Pandemic

Chile has eliminated its tax on financial transactions for the next six months to help families and businesses cope with the impact of the new coronavirus on economic activity.

From April 1 to September 30, the stamp duty rate will be cut to zero from the current 0.8%. The measure is part of an $11.75 billion economic package signed into law Monday by President Sebastian Pinera.

President Pinera said that temporarily suppressing the stamp duty for six months will “facilitate access to credit and reduce its costs,” especially for small and medium businesses.

• The government will also make payments worth 50,000 Chilean pesos ($59) per dependent to around three million low-income families and inject $500 million into state bank Banco Estado to increase lending to struggling businesses.
• Last week, the government imposed lockdowns on the main business, administrative, and commercial districts of its capital Santiago as the number of cases of the disease soared past 2,000.
• The government also plans to suspend monthly payments of corporate income tax for the next three months while businesses with annual sales of less than 10 billion Chilean pesos ($11.6 million) will be able to delay payments of value-added tax until July.