במסגרת שיתופי הפעולה הבינלאומיים של משרד Robus, אנו שמחים להביא ניחוח דרום אמריקאי היישר מסנטיאגו (צ'ילה), בפוסט אורח של עו"ד אלן קראוס, פרופ' למשפטים ושותף במשרד Bitran & Cia הצ'ליאני, יהודי דובר עברית, העוסק בתחום התאגידים, השקעות זרות, הגנה על מוצרים ועוד.

עו"ד אלן קראוס, נמצא בקשר עם מספר חברות בישראל, ומרחיב את הפרקטיקה שבין ישראל לצ'ילה ודרום אמריקה, ובפוסט זה הוא סוקר את הסקטור והפעילות המשפטית במדינה, וכמה מילים על השוואה לישראל.

מאמר זה מצטרף לשרשרת מאמרים פרי עטם של עו"ד יהודים וישראליים מסביב לעולם עימם נמצא משרד Robus בקשר, הנותנים את חוות דעתם על נושאים שונים הקשורים למדינת המוצא שלהם – והשוואה לישראל. קריאה מהנה.

Practicing Law in Chile / Alan Krausz Bitrán

Practice as a lawyer in Chile, in trade and investment matters requires significant ongoing training efforts to meet the requirements of the foreign or domestic investment companies.

Given the internationalization of the Chilean economy through free trade agreements or accession to the OECD, require that lawyers improves his skills, which in my case I did a master degree, several specialization courses, teach at university and of course with experience of the profession

Chile signed free trade agreements with Europe, USA and others, so exist a great opportunity to the Israelis to invest in Chile, and use the country as a business platform. In effect, The investment platform allows foreign investors to set up a platform company in Chile for channeling and managing investments in third countries, permitting them to tap into Chile's advantages without having to pay Chilean tax on income from these overseas investments

Companies that set up a business platform must be established in accordance with Chilean laws and can be either open public companies limited by shares (sociedad anónima abierta) or closed public companies limited by shares (sociedad anónima cerrada) that agree, in their bylaws, to comply with the same regulations as open public companies limited by shares

However, under Chilean law, platform companies are not considered resident or domiciled in Chile and are only liable to Chilean taxes on income generated in Chile as dividends from investments in public companies established in Chile or as gains on the sale of shares in these companies. This income is subject to the Additional Tax at a rate of 35%.  First Category Tax paid may be deducted from the tax due as a credit.  The Additional Tax is retained by the company distributing the dividends

The income of shareholders in investment platform companies, domiciled or resident in Chile, is subject to the general tax regime established in the Income Tax Law and, in other words, said shareholders are liable to pay the First Category Tax and Global Complementary Tax. However, they are entitled to use the Additional Tax of 35% paid by the platform company on income generated in Chile as a credit against these taxes

Income generated abroad as a result of investment, services, or as capital gains, is not subject to any income tax, either on the income itself, or on its remittance overseas

Platform companies may invest overseas and in Chilean public companies limited by shares.  They can also provide services to subsidiaries and associated companies, providing these are not located in tax havens

In order to access this regime, platform companies must be registered as such with the Internal Revenue Service (SII). This procedure replaces the business initiation statement required to develop economic activities in Chile.

Bank secrecy rules included in the Bank Law are not applicable to platform companies, therefore any information shall be provided to the SII

The ease of communication today allows attorneys throughout the world can be connected and achieving the degree of co-operation in order to satisfy our customers, especially because it will be common investment reciprocity

We know that the rules of UNCITRAL are increasingly used to regulate contracts and international investments and international arbitration centers such as exists in Chile that provided in many cases give investors a greater degree of certainty that the ordinary courts

Chile's experience is probably very similar to that of Israeli lawyers. In fact my experience with Israeli companies that have invested in Chile or South America is that its main concern is the issue of tax and the governmental authorities. Contractually, they are interested that the protection is in accordance with Israeli standards that adhere to the system of common law unlike Chile, which has a continental law system

It will be a pleasure to share with Israelis lawyers my experiences and if you need something in Chile or Latin America, I will be happy to help

Alan Krausz Bitrán, Abogado

Bitrán & Cía – http://www.bitrancia.cl/index_i.html

Email: alank@bitrancia.cl

Alonso de Cordova N° 5151, Torre Oriente, Oficina N° 1004, Las Condes, Santiago

Phone: (562 378 5200), Fax: (562 378 5202)