VAT Calculator for Chile
In Chile, IVA is a flat 19% that applies with almost no exceptions: there are no reduced rates for food, books or medicines as in other countries. This calculator works in the two directions you need day to day. With "Add VAT" you start from a net value and add the 19% — handy for drawing up an invoice (factura) or quoting a service. With "Remove VAT" you do the reverse: you enter the tax-inclusive price from a receipt (boleta) and the tool extracts the net value and the tax that was baked in. Either way you see the net amount, the IVA and the total separately.
The result is shown with the local currency symbol. In Chile the IVA is a single 19% rate applied to almost all goods and services.
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How it works
In Chile two documents show IVA in different ways. The boleta you get at a supermarket or a café carries the price with IVA already included: if you pay CLP 11,900 for a purchase, that total hides a net value of CLP 10,000 and CLP 1,900 of IVA, because the net is recovered by dividing the amount by 1.19 (not by subtracting 19%). The factura, issued between businesses, instead starts from the net value and adds the tax separately: on a CLP 250,000 net service, the 19% IVA is CLP 47,500 and the total to pay is CLP 297,500. This calculator does both operations — adding 19% to a net figure, or extracting the net hidden inside a tax-inclusive price — and shows the tax separately in each case.
IVA in Chile in 2026: a single 19% rate
Chile is an outlier in the region: while most of Latin America runs several rates (standard, reduced and sometimes super-reduced), here IVA is a single flat 19% on almost all consumption, from a coffee to a home appliance. There is no reduced rate for food, books or medicines. At the other extreme there is an additional tax (ILA) added on top of the 19% for alcoholic drinks, sugary soft drinks and luxury items. The big change of recent years came with Law 21,420: since 1 January 2023 all services are subject to IVA as a general rule, apart from a short list of exemptions.
| Situation | Treatment | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Taxed at 19% | The general rule: almost all goods and, since 2023, services too | Clothing, technology, restaurants, tickets, marketing services, rental of movable goods |
| Exempt from IVA | Operations the law leaves outside the tax | Exports, passenger transport, education, ambulatory health (medical and dental consultations), rental of unfurnished housing, life insurance |
| Professional services | The freelancer issues a boleta de honorarios with SII withholding (charges no IVA); registered professional partnerships are exempt | A freelance accountant or designer; a law partnership registered with the SII |
Boleta or factura: where the IVA shows up and who recovers it
The difference between a boleta and a factura is not just a format: it defines how you see the IVA and who can recover it. The boleta is the receipt for the final consumer; it shows the price with IVA included and that tax is not recoverable — whoever buys pays it. The factura is issued between businesses (or to anyone with a registered activity) and breaks out the net value and the 19% separately. The IVA on a purchase factura is a tax credit (crédito fiscal) for the business: every month, on Form 29 (Formulario 29), it subtracts the IVA it paid on purchases (credit) from the IVA it charged on sales (debit) and remits only the difference to the SII. That is why asking for a factura matters so much for a business: the IVA on a boleta is a cost, the IVA on a factura is deductible.
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Preguntas frecuentes
- Why does Chile have a single VAT rate?
- It is a design choice of the Chilean tax system: instead of multiplying rates by product type, IVA is charged uniformly at 19% on almost all consumption, which simplifies enforcement and compliance. Progressivity (making those who have more pay more) is pursued through other taxes, such as the global complementary income tax, rather than by lowering IVA on certain goods. That is why you will not find a reduced IVA for food or books as in Europe.
- What is exempt from IVA in Chile?
- The law leaves a limited group of operations outside IVA: exports, passenger transport, education, ambulatory health services (medical, dental, physiotherapy, imaging), the rental of unfurnished housing and life insurance, among others. Everything else — including most services since 2023 — is taxed at 19%.
- Do professional services pay IVA?
- It depends on how they are provided. An independent professional who issues a boleta de honorarios charges no IVA: instead, the SII applies a withholding (15.25% in 2026) toward their income tax. Professional partnerships registered in the SII registry are also exempt. But since Law 21,420 (in force from 2023) other services are indeed subject to the 19%, which was not the general rule before.
- Does the boleta already include IVA?
- Yes. On the boleta you receive as a final consumer the price already has the 19% inside; it is not broken out. The factura, by contrast, issued between businesses, separates the net value and the IVA on distinct lines. If you want to know how much tax you paid on a boleta, you have to extract it from the total with this calculator.
- How do I get the net value from a tax-inclusive price on the boleta?
- Divide the total price by 1.19 (do not subtract 19%). For example, a boleta of CLP 11,900 divided by 1.19 gives a net value of CLP 10,000, and the difference — CLP 1,900 — is the IVA that was included. Choose "Remove VAT" in the calculator and it performs exactly that operation for you.