Argentina
SAS / SRL
✓SAS or SRL, filed in one to three weeks by power of attorney✓RIGI fixes 25% and guarantees repatriation for thirty years✓Ordinary companies pay up to 35%, plus 21% VAT and provincial IIBB
You come here for the market, not for the rate.
Nobody registers a company in Brazil, Colombia or Argentina to lower a tax bill. They register to sell to the market, to hire the engineers who are already there, or to sit next to a supply chain, and then they meet a tax administration that is digital, monthly and serious about being paid. We plan the route the profit takes out of the country before you register, because that is the part that decides whether the structure works.
9
South American jurisdictions
6,000+
companies registered
70+
banking relationships
Updated
Where we register
All nine we register in, and what each one is actually for
Brazil
LTDA - single-member OK
✓LTDA with a single member allowed - 215 million consumers behind it✓Around 34% on real profit; the presumed-profit regime is lower✓Dividends paid abroad are taxed at 10% from 2026
Colombia
SAS via Cámara de Comercio
✓SAS filed at the Cámara de Comercio in one to two weeks, no notary✓35% is the region's heaviest headline rate - free zones charge 20%✓Dividends leave at 20% before treaties; every bank movement pays the 4×1000
Ecuador
SAS via Superintendencia
✓SAS through the Superintendencia in one to two weeks✓25% corporate tax in an economy that has used the US dollar since 2000✓Money leaving pays the ISD at about 5%; employees take 15% of profits
Guyana
Private company - Companies Act
✓A private company under the Companies Act - common law, in English✓25% for most activities, but 40% for a commercial company✓The local-content law reserves forty service categories to Guyanese partners
Peru
SAC via SUNARP
✓SAC registered through SUNARP in one to two weeks✓29.5% corporate tax and 5% on dividends - the kindest in the region✓Payroll runs to fourteen-plus salaries, plus a sectoral profit share
Uruguay (SA)
SAS · simplified company
✓Foreign-source income taxed at 0% - territorial by law✓Set up fully online in seven to fifteen business days✓Free zones exempt outright; local income pays 25% IRAE
Venezuela
C.A. via Registro Mercantil
✓C.A. through the Registro Mercantil - months, because the registry is slow✓Heavy sanctions exposure: screening comes before any other step✓A private economy trading de facto in dollars, taxed at a 34% top band
Bolivia
SRL via SEPREC
✓SRL filed through SEPREC in two to four weeks, by power of attorney✓25% IUE, plus 13% VAT and a 3% transactions tax charged on gross✓The boliviano's peg is under pressure - the money flows get planned around it
The part people plan last
Registering the company is the easy half. Getting the profit out is the other one.
Every country on this page will let you form a company. What differs sharply, country by country, is what happens to the money afterwards. What it costs to send a dividend abroad, whether the central bank has a view on it, and how much of the year you spend filing.
✓Dividend and remittance taxes sit outside the corporate rate. Brazil at 10% from 2026, Colombia at 20% before treaties, Ecuador's ISD at about 5% on money leaving✓Exchange control is a live variable. Argentina is dismantling its controls in stages, and Bolivia's peg is under pressure with an official and a street rate that do not agree✓Compliance is monthly and electronic. E-invoicing, monthly returns and a local accountant are a running cost, not a formality✓A local tax identification number and a resident legal representative gate everything, and both usually take longer than the incorporation itself
This is why the first conversation is about where the profit is meant to end up. The country of registration is chosen after that question, not before it.
Ask what would actually work →What you are actually buying
The reasons to be here are commercial, and they are good ones
These are large economies with demanding tax administrations. You pay the compliance cost because the market, the workforce or the resource is worth it, and when it is, the structure is worth building properly rather than cheaply.
✓Market access - 215 million consumers in Brazil, fifty-two million in Colombia, and no serious regional strategy that skips either✓People. Medellín's nearshore technology scene, and engineering hires you cannot make from anywhere else✓Proximity to the resource. Copper and the Chancay port in Peru, oil services in Guyana, lithium and the Santa Cruz agro economy in Bolivia, Vaca Muerta in Argentina✓A regime built for the case. Uruguayan free zones at 0%, Colombian free zones at 20%, Argentina's RIGI at 25% with repatriation guaranteed for thirty years
Each of those points at a different country and a different legal form. That is the content of the opinion, not a ranking of the continent.
Get a free legal opinion →What registration covers
What we do, and what you get at the end
Incorporation is the easy part. The work is choosing correctly, satisfying the registrar and getting a bank account opened afterwards.
These include:
✓Choice of jurisdiction and legal form against your real activity✓Name check, incorporation and the full corporate document set✓Registered office and registered agent for the first year✓Beneficial ownership filings where the jurisdiction requires them✓Apostille and legalisation of documents for use abroad
Additionally, where it is needed:
✓Bank or EMI account opening, with 70+ relationships behind the application✓Nominee or resident director where the law requires one✓Substance. Office, staff and local presence✓Accounting, annual returns and tax registration✓Licences, permits and sector approvals
Several of these jurisdictions now require annual filings and substance reports that did not exist five years ago. We keep them filed.
| What | Typical time | What you receive |
|---|---|---|
| Name approval | Same day to 3 days | Reserved company name |
| Incorporation | 1 day to 8 weeks | Certificate, charter, register of members |
| Corporate documents | With incorporation | Resolutions, share certificates, POA |
| Apostille set | 3-10 business days | Legalised documents for the bank |
| Tax and social registration | 1-3 weeks | Tax number, VAT where applicable |
| Bank account | 2-8 weeks | IBAN and access to the account |
The bank is the slow step everywhere, and it is the one that decides whether the structure was worth building. We start it in parallel, not after.
Comparison of jurisdictions
All nine, with the real rate and the real timeline
The rate below is the headline corporate rate. It is not the burden. VAT, provincial and transaction taxes, payroll and the tax on sending profit abroad sit on top of it, and those differ between these countries far more than the corporate rates do.
01
Fastest
Uruguay files in seven to fifteen business days and does it fully online. Colombia, Ecuador and Peru take one to two weeks; Argentina and Guyana one to three; Brazil and Bolivia two to four.
02
The heaviest headline rates
Colombia at 35%, Argentina at up to 35%, Brazil at roughly 34% and Venezuela at a 34% top band. Guyana reads as 25% until a trading business meets the 40% commercial rate.
03
The one territorial system
Uruguay taxes foreign-source income at 0% by law and local income at 25% under IRAE, with free zones exempt outright. Nothing else on this page is territorial.
04
Where a special regime carries the case
Argentina's RIGI fixes 25% and guarantees repatriation for thirty years for qualifying investors. Colombian free zones charge 20%. Brazil's presumed-profit regime lands below 34% for businesses that fit it.
| Jurisdiction | Legal form | Time to set up | Corporate tax | Remote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ArgentinaMore details → | SAS / SRL | 1-3 weeks | 25-35% · RIGI 25% | Yes - by POA |
| BrazilMore details → | LTDA - single-member OK | 2-4 weeks | ≈34% · presumido less | Yes - by POA |
| ColombiaMore details → | SAS via Cámara de Comercio | 1-2 weeks | 35% · free zones 20% | Yes - by POA |
| EcuadorMore details → | SAS via Superintendencia | 1-2 weeks | 25% | - |
| GuyanaMore details → | Private company - Companies Act | 1-3 weeks | 25% · commercial 40% | Yes - by POA |
| PeruMore details → | SAC via SUNARP | 1-2 weeks | 29.5% | Yes - by POA |
| Uruguay (SA)More details → | SAS · simplified company | 7-15 business days | 0% - territorial | Yes - fully online |
| VenezuelaMore details → | C.A. via Registro Mercantil | Months - the registry is slow | 34% top band | - |
| BoliviaMore details → | SRL via SEPREC | 2-4 weeks | 25% | Yes - by POA |
Important: Three lines need reading twice. Venezuela's registry runs in months rather than weeks and the sanctions exposure is screened before anything else is done. Ecuador and Venezuela are the two we do not offer as a remote set-up. And Brazil's indirect taxes are mid-reform. The dual IBS/CBS system has a transition running to 2033, so a Brazilian model built on today's indirect numbers will need revisiting.
No line here is a recommendation on its own. What decides it is what the company sells, who it employs, and where the profit is supposed to arrive.
Before you register
What every registry, tax office and bank will want
The company file is the short part. The tax registration behind it, and the person who has to be there to sign for it, are what set the real timeline.
01
A local tax identification number The company exists when the registry says so and can trade when the tax office says so. Those are two different dates, and the second is later than most clients plan for.
02
A legal representative in the country Someone resident, named on the register and personally answerable to the tax authority. Finding and appointing them regularly takes longer than filing the constitutional documents.
03
A registered domicile that receives service A real address that accepts notifications. These tax administrations serve notices electronically and by post, and a missed notice is a penalty rather than a reminder.
04
Corporate documents, apostilled and translated For a foreign shareholder: incorporation certificate, register of members and the resolution to invest, apostilled and translated by a translator the registry accepts. Recent, too. Stale documents come back.
05
A power of attorney, if you are not travelling Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Peru and Bolivia are done by POA; Uruguay is done fully online. The POA must name the specific acts, or the registry rejects it and you draft it again.
06
Beneficial ownership disclosure Standard across the region now. A nominee arrangement does not remove the disclosure, and a bank that cannot see through the structure declines it.
07
Source of funds Documented rather than asserted. Banks here ask the same questions as banks anywhere, and applications fail on this far more often than on the choice of country.
08
Electronic invoicing from the first sale A digital certificate, enrolment with the tax office and software that talks to it. In most of these countries an invoice that is not issued electronically is not a valid invoice.
09
The incoming capital registered as foreign investment Record the inflow when it arrives. Whether a dividend or a capital repayment can be sent out later often turns on whether the money was properly registered on the way in.
10
Sanctions screening, where it applies For Venezuela this comes before every other step. Counterparties, banks and any contact with the state sector are screened first. If the screening says no, we say no and stop there.
Note: If you take one thing from this list: the tax number and the legal representative, not the incorporation, are the critical path. Start them first.
On the ground
Seventeen offices, our own people
Prague
Czech Republic
Vlkova 532/8, Žižkov
Berlin
Germany
Rankestraße 26
Singapore
Singapore
3 Church Street, #29-68 Samsung Hub
Bangkok
Thailand
Unit P01, Penthouse, VASU1, 1 Sukhumvit 25 Alley
Foshan
China
A-Tower, Yuneng Digital Plaza, 46 Lishui Avenue South
Bishkek
Kyrgyzstan
32 Razzakov Street
How it works
Five stages from first call to a working account
STEP 01
The opinion
Where you live, where you work, where you will bank and what the company will do. Out of that comes a jurisdiction, a legal form and a written reason. Free.
STEP 02
Documents and name
Certified passports, proof of address, the activity description and a name the registrar will accept. Translations and legalisation where they are required.
STEP 03
Incorporation
Filed by us or by our local partner. You receive the certificate, the constitutional documents and the registers.
STEP 04
Legalisation and the bank
Apostille where the bank needs it, then the account application. Started in parallel with the incorporation, not after it.
STEP 05
Keeping it alive
Registered agent, annual return, accounting and the substance filings. The part people forget until the company is struck off.
Why Prifinance
Why this is worth paying a lawyer for
The incorporation is a commodity. What is not is the year of filings behind it, and the profit that turns out not to be able to leave.
01
6,000+ companies, so the queues are familiar
A power of attorney the registry rejects, a translator it will not accept, a tax number that stalls, a legal representative who resigns. None of it is new to us.
02
The exit route for profit is planned before you register
Dividend and remittance taxes, exchange control and the treaty position are settled first. Picking the country before that is how structures get built backwards.
03
The compliance budget is quoted up front
Monthly filings, electronic invoicing, payroll and a local accountant. You get the running annual figure with the set-up quote, not after the first quarter of invoices.
04
Special regimes are checked, not assumed
RIGI, the free zones and the presumed-profit regime all carry conditions and all get audited. We confirm you qualify before a financial model is built on the lower rate.
05
We say when the answer is somewhere else
Sometimes it is a Uruguayan holding company over the operating subsidiary; sometimes it is a distributor and no local entity this year. You hear that before you pay, not after.
Your team
The people who will run your file
Dmitri Mihhailov
General Partner
Leads Prifinance's corporate practice and oversees client engagements, with senior expertise in international company structuring and bank-account setup.
Eugeniu Bevziuc
Corporate services advisor
Corporate services and compliance: documents, legalisation, annual filings and the bank's questions.
Alex Danila
Company formation specialist
Your day-to-day contact - coordinates incorporation, documents and the bank introduction, from the first call through to launch.
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Watch: how a South American structure is chosen, and how the profit gets back out
Good to know
Four things about tax that change the answer
The corporate rate is, in practice, the smallest of these four.
The headline rate is not the burden
VAT runs at 21% in Argentina with provincial IIBB on top, 19% in Colombia with the 4×1000 on every bank movement, 18% in Peru, 16% in Venezuela, 15% in Ecuador, 14% in Guyana and 13% in Bolivia beside a 3% transactions tax on gross.
Taking the profit out is taxed separately
Brazil taxes dividends paid abroad at 10% from 2026, Colombia at 20% before treaty relief, Peru at 5%. Ecuador charges the ISD at roughly 5% on remittances whatever they are for.
Payroll is a tax under another name
Brazilian payroll costs thirteen-plus salaries a year, Peru runs to fourteen-plus with a sectoral profit share, and Ecuadorean employees take 15% of profits by law. Model headcount at that cost, not at the salary.
The special regime is the planning
Uruguay is territorial at 0% on foreign income with free zones exempt outright, Colombian free zones charge 20%, and Argentina's RIGI fixes 25% with repatriation guaranteed for thirty years. Conditional regimes, not loopholes.
Important: None of this replaces the rules where you live. CFC regimes and foreign subsidiary reporting apply to a Brazilian or Colombian company exactly as they do to any other. A high-tax country of registration does not make them go away, it only makes people forget to check.
Client notes
Google4.7★★★★★
Founders who wanted it done right.
Google4.7★★★★★
“As a software development crew at FewMoreTaps OÜ, we've had the pleasure of working with Prifinance on some key financial moves.First of all, navigating the world of corporate banking and finance can be a maze, but Prifinance made it feel like a walk in the park. They helped us set up a corporate bank account without the hassle of jumping on a plane or drowning in paperwork. Everything was done remotely, smoothly…”
Google
“I had their assistance in company registration and I would recommend them. They were answering all my clarification during the process and offering all their supportThank you Daniel and Irinia”
Google
“We found PRIFINANCE COMPANYvia the Internet and asked for help in organizing the opening of their company in Estonia. PRIFINANCE COMPANY specialists helped us a lot with this. Their professional, competent approach and knowledge of their business left us with only the best impressions.”
Google
“I'm thrilled with my experience with PriFinance! They helped me obtain a crypto license in Estonia without any hassle. The team was super understanding and always available to answer my questions and assist. It was great to see how they put effort into preparing the documents to ensure everything went smoothly. I'm delighted with the outcome and highly recommend PriFinance to anyone looking to get a license…”
Google
“Opening an account with Prifinance in a Swiss bank was such an easy and quick process that I was shocked. It all started with the first call, where I received detailed guidance on the required documents and the entire procedure.One of the key highlights was their attention to detail. As someone who usually gets tangled up in paperwork, I was pleasantly surprised when they sent me all the documents and…”
Google
“I recently had the pleasure of working with Boris.. and I must say, it was a fantastic experience. Boris went above and beyond to assist me with my residency needs. His professionalism, knowledge, and dedication truly stood out. I highly recommend working with Boris and the team!”
Google
FAQ
What people ask before choosing a country
Which of these is fastest to register?+
Uruguay - seven to fifteen business days, fully online. Colombia, Ecuador and Peru take one to two weeks; Argentina and Guyana one to three; Brazil and Bolivia two to four. Venezuela is measured in months, because the registry is slow.
Can I set the company up without travelling?+
Uruguay is fully online. Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Peru and Bolivia are done by power of attorney. Ecuador and Venezuela are the two we do not offer as a remote set-up.
Do I need a local partner or a local shareholder?+
For ownership, generally not. What you need is a legal representative resident in the country. The exception on this page is Guyana, where the local-content law reserves forty service categories to Guyanese partners - there the sector decides the answer, not the corporate law.
How soon can the company issue its first invoice?+
After the tax number and the electronic invoicing enrolment, not after the registry entry. Budget for that gap. It is the most common surprise in a first-year plan.
What does keeping the company compliant actually cost?+
More than most clients expect, and it is monthly rather than annual - bookkeeping, electronic invoicing, tax returns and payroll. We quote the annual running figure next to the set-up fee so the decision is taken on the whole number.
Where in the region is the tax actually low?+
Uruguay, and only Uruguay - 0% on foreign-source income under a territorial system, with free zones exempt outright and 25% IRAE on local income. Everywhere else here you are paying between 25% and 35% and coming for something other than the rate.
Should the holding company sit in the region?+
Often, yes - a Uruguayan company above the operating subsidiaries elsewhere in South America. It is territorial, it is set up online in seven to fifteen business days, it has no exchange controls and it is whitelisted rather than blacklisted, which is what makes it a workable regional layer instead of a paper one.
Can I get the profit out?+
Yes, if it was planned for. That means registering the capital on the way in, budgeting the dividend or remittance tax, and knowing the exchange-control position - Argentina is dismantling its controls in stages, and Bolivia's peg is under pressure with an official and a street rate that do not agree.
Should I be looking at Venezuela at all?+
Only with sanctions screening done first, and only with the patience for a registry that takes months. The private economy trades de facto in dollars and there are real assets at low prices; there is also a state sector under heavy sanctions that we will not go near. We screen before we file, and we tell you when the answer is no.
What if the right answer is not a South American company?+
Then that is what the opinion says. Selling through a distributor, or waiting a year, is sometimes better than carrying an entity's monthly filings, and you hear that before you pay for one.
Free consultation
Tell us what the company is for
What you sell, where the customers are, whether you will employ people locally and where the profit needs to end up. You get a written recommendation with a country, a legal form, the set-up and running cost and the reasoning - free of charge.
Written assessment within 2-5 business days