Taxes And Other Stuff

Introduction:

Historically Uruguay's tax and financial systems were based on three fundamental concepts:

1. Territoriality – meaning that only income generated within Uruguay was subject to tax. This has always been very important for foreigners coming to Uruguay to retire for example, as it meant their "foreign" income was not taxable.
2. Bank Secrecy – so that a bank could not give any information about an account without that person's consent - save for a judicial order, where there was prima facie evidence of a criminal offence.
3. Taxation was based on capital assets rather than income.

As of 2007 this changed as Uruguay brought in an income tax - without reducing any of the existing taxes! Bank secrecy has also ceased to exist as a result of international regulations to prevent money-laundering and tax evasion.