Importing goods to resell in Uruguay: customs, the despachante and IVA

Plenty of small businesses start the same way: you find a product abroad, bring it in, and sell it here. The first question is always 'how much will it cost me to get it out of customs?'. The honest answer is that it depends on the product — but the process itself can be explained once and for all: commercial import, DUA, customs broker, import taxes, and the part almost nobody mentions — the IVA you pay on the import, which for a registered business isn't money down the drain. Step by step, with the official sources in plain sight.

Reselling isn't the same as buying by courier

If you buy something for yourself online and it arrives by courier or post, you may fall under the franquicia: the personal-shipment regime, with value caps and a limited number of operations per year. That regime is for personal, non-commercial use. If you buy to resell, you're making a commercial import and it goes through the general regime: it's declared to the National Customs Directorate and the applicable taxes are paid. The Customs Code itself, when listing the cases where a broker's intervention is not mandatory, refers to international postal shipments 'of a non-commercial nature' and to travellers' luggage — none of which is your situation if you're going to sell.

How the goods come in: the DUA and the broker

Every customs operation is declared on a single form, the DUA (Documento Único Aduanero). Customs defines it like this:

Definition from the National Customs Directorate:

«Formato único estándar para la declaración de las operaciones aduaneras de entrada, salida y tránsito de mercaderías.»

In English: A single standard format for declaring customs operations of entry, exit and transit of goods.

That DUA has to be drawn up and filed, and in a commercial import it is a despachante de aduana — a customs broker — who does it. Not an informal middleman: it's a role defined in the Customs Code.

Customs Code of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, article 14:

«El despachante de aduana, persona física o jurídica, es un sujeto privado, auxiliar del comercio y de la función pública aduanera, habilitado para realizar, en nombre de otra persona, los trámites y diligencias relacionados con los destinos y las operaciones aduaneros ante la Dirección Nacional de Aduanas.»

In English: The customs broker, an individual or a legal entity, is a private party, an auxiliary of trade and of the public customs function, authorised to carry out, on behalf of another person, the procedures and formalities relating to customs destinations and operations before the National Customs Directorate.

In practice the broker classifies the goods, prepares the DUA, computes the taxes and answers for the operation before Customs. Their fee is part of the cost of importing: ask for it in writing before you buy, together with an estimate of the taxes based on the supplier's proforma invoice.

What you pay on an import

There's no single number, and be suspicious of anyone who quotes one without seeing the product. The usual components are: the tariff (arancel), which depends on how the goods are classified under the Mercosur Common Nomenclature (NCM) and on their origin — goods from inside the bloc aren't treated the same as goods from outside; the IVA on the import; customs, port and storage fees; freight and insurance; and the broker's fee plus local logistics. The first two follow from the tariff classification, so the only serious estimate is made with the NCM code in hand, checking with Customs or a broker.

That imports pay IVA isn't an interpretation: it's in the very definition of the tax.

Title 10 of the consolidated tax text (IVA), article 1:

«El Impuesto al Valor Agregado (IVA) gravará la circulación interna de bienes, la prestación de servicios dentro del territorio nacional, la introducción de bienes al país y la agregación de valor originada en la construcción realizada sobre inmuebles.»

In English: Value Added Tax (IVA) shall tax the internal circulation of goods, the provision of services within the national territory, the introduction of goods into the country and the value added arising from construction carried out on real property.

And the taxable base is not the price you paid your supplier:

Title 10, 'Tax to be invoiced', item B) Imports:

«Las tasas se aplicarán sobre el valor normal de aduana más el arancel.»

In English: The rates shall be applied to the normal customs value plus the tariff.

In other words: IVA is computed on the normal customs value plus the tariff. That's why the final figure almost always comes out higher than the back-of-the-envelope sum you did from the supplier's invoice.

The IVA you pay on the import is a credit, not a cost

Here's the big difference between importing as a consumer and importing as a business. For a consumer, import IVA is pure cost: you pay it and that's the end of it. For an IVA-registered business, that tax is offset against the IVA you charge on your sales. The computation works like this:

Title 10, 'Computation of the tax':

«El tributo a pagar se liquidará partiendo del total de los impuestos facturados según lo establecido en el artículo anterior, descontando los impuestos correspondientes a los hechos referidos en el inciso cuarto del artículo 3° de este Título.»

In English: The tax payable shall be computed starting from the total of the taxes invoiced as established in the previous article, deducting the taxes corresponding to the events referred to in the fourth paragraph of article 3 of this Title.

And among the deductions, the import tax appears expressly:

Same article, item B):

«El impuesto pagado al importar bienes por el importador o el comitente en su caso.»

In English: The tax paid on importing goods by the importer or, as the case may be, the principal.

Put plainly: if in a month you charged $35,000 of IVA on your sales and paid $22,000 of IVA on the import, you pay DGI the difference. Import IVA is an advance, not a loss. Two practical conditions: you have to be an IVA taxpayer (a sole trader under the general regime is; a monotributista doesn't file IVA, so for them the amount stays a cost) and the goods must form part of the cost of taxed operations. Keep the DUA and the payment receipt: they are the backing for the credit.

Before your first import

The minimum you want settled before wiring money to a supplier:

• Business in order: an active RUT at DGI, BPS registration, and a line of business that covers buying and selling what you plan to sell.
• Classification: ask the supplier for the technical description and have the NCM code determined before you buy — the tariff follows from it.
• Broker: pick one and ask for a quote covering taxes and fees based on the proforma invoice.
• Origin: if the supplier is inside Mercosur, ask whether they issue a certificate of origin; it changes the tariff treatment.
• Documents: commercial invoice, packing list, transport document and insurance. Without them the DUA can't be prepared.
• Controls: some products need clearance from other agencies (food, cosmetics, electrical equipment). Find out first, not with the goods sitting at the port.
• Total cost: add taxes, freight, broker, storage and local logistics before setting your selling price.

• Buying by courier: the personal franquicia
• What IVA is in Uruguay, explained simply

Frequently asked questions

• Can I use the courier franquicia for goods I'm going to sell? No: that regime is for personal shipments of a non-commercial nature.
• Do I really need a broker? For a commercial import, in practice yes; the Customs Code only exempts specific cases such as luggage or non-commercial shipments.
• How much is the tariff? It depends on the product's NCM classification and its origin. There's no single percentage: check with Customs or a broker.
• What is import IVA calculated on? On the normal customs value plus the tariff, not on the supplier's invoice alone.
• Do I get that IVA back? If you're an IVA taxpayer and the goods form part of the cost of taxed operations, you offset it against the IVA on your sales.
• And if I'm a monotributista? You don't file IVA, so the IVA paid on the import stays as one more cost of the goods.

In short: importing to resell is a commercial import — DUA, broker and taxes — and the tariff depends on the product's classification and origin, so there is no magic percentage. What is certain is the IVA mechanism: it's computed on the customs value plus the tariff and, if you're registered, you later offset it against the IVA on your sales. Before the first purchase, have the goods classified and get a quote from a broker: that's the only estimate worth anything.