How to pay your taxes and contributions in Uruguay: all the ways

Knowing what to pay and when is half the job; the other half is how. The good news: today almost everything is paid from home, in a few minutes. Here we lay out the ways to pay your obligations to the two bodies — the BPS and the DGI — and when each one is best.

Two accounts: BPS and DGI

Your payments go to two places: social-security contributions to the BPS; taxes to the DGI. (If you're a monotributista, it's simpler: everything goes to the BPS in a single fee.) Each body generates a document to pay — and that's where the payment methods start.

DGI: first the slip, then the payment

At the DGI there's a prior step: you generate the payment slip 2908 in Servicios en Línea (with your user), and you pay with that slip. The DGI puts it like this:

The 2908 slip is the starting point of any payment to the DGI:

«Para pagos en línea, pagos en entidades colaboradoras y en oficinas de DGI, se requiere previamente confeccionar el boleto de pago 2908.»

In English: For online payments, payments at collaborating entities and at DGI offices, you must first generate the payment slip 2908.

BPS: invoice and reference number

The BPS, instead, generates a monthly invoice. To pay, the most practical thing is to use that invoice's reference number: with it you pay online or at a collection network, without printing anything.

Online (the most convenient)

From home, there are several routes:

• From the DGI's or the BPS's Servicios en Línea, with your user.
• Through your bank's website or app (BROU, Itaú, BBVA, Santander, Prex, OCA Blue, among others).
• At the BPS, with “Pagar facturas por número de referencia” — even without being registered.

At collection networks

If you prefer to pay in person, the collection networks are the classic option. You bring the slip number (DGI) or reference/invoice (BPS). The BPS sums it up like this:

At Abitab or Redpagos the reference number is enough (no need to print):

«Abitab, Redpagos: con factura impresa, número de referencia o número de empresa.»

In English: Abitab, Redpagos: with a printed invoice, reference number or company number.

Automatic debit

So you don't have to remember each month, the BPS offers automatic debit to certain businesses (decentralized-collection ones, like those without employees). It says:

And to forget the monthly chore, there's automatic debit:

«Débito automático: para empresas de cobranza descentralizada (empresas sin dependientes y empleadores de Trabajo Doméstico), a través de los bancos Itaú y Scotiabank.»

In English: Automatic debit: for decentralized-collection businesses (firms without employees and domestic-work employers), through the banks Itaú and Scotiabank.

How to pay, at a glance

Tips so you don't slip

Four simple rules:

• Generate the slip (DGI) or have the invoice (BPS) before the deadline.
• Pay by reference number: it avoids misallocation errors.
• Always keep the payment receipt.
• If you're a monotributista, you pay everything to the BPS — not the DGI.

In short: you pay the DGI with the 2908 slip (online, at networks or at offices); the BPS with your invoice or reference number (online, at networks or by automatic debit). Almost everything can be done from your phone. Not sure how much or when? See our tax-calendar post, and let Tributo build your calendar. Always verify the current methods with the DGI and BPS.