In Chile equipment can be brought in, either definitely or for a couple of days or months.
If someone wishes to bring equipment for less than 6 months, then temporary entrance of the equipment is advisable, because you pay only a percentage of the duty and taxes you paid in a normal entrance. The downside of the temporary entrance is that if you for whatever reason want to leave the equipment in Chile definitely, the custom duties and taxes paid can not be credited to the payment due for the definitive entrance of the equipment.
The taxes that are levied when equipment enters Chile are VAT in amount of 19% and customs duties, which are in average 6% of the CIF – price. Chile has free trade agreements with a lot of countries including USA. So if the equipment is from the States usually custom duties will be 0%, if the equipment complies with the rules of origin agreed in the Free Trade Agreement.
In accordance to the Free Trade Agreement, if the equipment has to be sent back to the US to be repaired when it returns to Chile no taxes are levied.
A wise way to import the equipment is via a lease agreement. The advantage of a lease agreements is that the payments can be credited as expenses and deducted from incomes.
Payments of international leasing however are subject to a tax levied on every rate paid in amount of 1.8% (Impuesto adicional). These agreements must be informed to the Chilean IRS previously.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.