Chile's 2026 tax reform: a brighter outlook for life between Chile and the U.S.

The big picture

The reform's aim is simple: make Chile more competitive and more predictable for people who invest and build there. It lowers the corporate rate toward the OECD average, ends the partial integration introduced by the 2014 reform, adds long-term tax stability contracts for large projects, and gives households several targeted reliefs. Together, these steps bring Chile back in line with the OECD average and most of the region.

For anyone whose life spans both countries, the reform mostly widens the room to plan. Here is what we see as most relevant.

Owners of a Chilean SpA or Ltda

• Lower corporate tax: the general rate steps down from 27% to 25.5%, then 24%, reaching 23% in 2029. More profit stays in the company to reinvest.
• The U.S. side still works: at 23%, Chilean tax on a general-regime company remains above 18.9%, so U.S. owners can generally keep using the high-tax exclusion on Form 5471 and avoid current U.S. tax on active profits.
• Full integration from 2029: the obligation to restore part of the corporate tax credit shrinks over 2027 and 2028 and ends in 2029. When you take dividends, the Chilean corporate tax counts in full against your personal tax again.
• Pro Pyme stays at 12.5% for now: good for cash flow in Chile, but below the U.S. high-tax line. If you are a U.S. citizen with a Pro Pyme company, see our Form 5471 guide.
• Exporters of knowledge services (engineering, technology, research and similar) get a new credit worth 15% of qualifying salaries, 20% outside the Santiago Metropolitan Region, from November 2026.

Investors and savers

• Stock-market gains: from 2027, gains on qualifying liquid shares sold on the exchange are no longer income in Chile. For U.S. citizens and green card holders, the IRS still taxes the gain, and with no Chilean tax there is nothing to credit. Timing sales and choosing between Chilean and U.S. accounts now matters more.
• Assets abroad: Chilean residents with income or assets abroad acquired before 2026 and not yet declared in Chile can regularize them during 2027 at a 10% flat rate, or 7% if the money is brought to Chile and invested for five years. If you are tax resident in Chile and hold U.S. accounts never reported to the SII, talk to your Chilean advisor about this window.

Families and homeowners

• Gifts: Chilean gift tax is cut by 50%, once per donor, for gifts formalized between December 1, 2026 and November 30, 2027. If the recipient is a U.S. person, gifts from a parent abroad above $100,000 a year are reported on Form 3520; if the donor is a U.S. citizen, Form 709 applies above $19,000 per recipient. See U.S. property, gifts and estate tax.
• New homes: the first sale of qualifying new homes is exempt from VAT from December 1, 2026 to November 30, 2027.
• Retirees: from January 2027, people aged 65 or over who meet the conditions are exempt from contribuciones (property tax) on their main home.
• Small landlords: an optional 5% flat tax applies to rent from DFL-2 homes of up to 90 m², starting with the third unit.

What to do now

• If you own a Chilean company, ask your contador for a three-year projection under the new rates, and we will model the U.S. side with it.
• If a family gift is planned, the December 2026 to November 2027 window is worth using, with the U.S. forms prepared at the same time.
• If you invest through a Chilean broker, review how future sales will be taxed in the U.S. before 2027.

The SII is issuing instructions for each measure, and some details may still change. We will update this note as the rules are published.