Plan contractor hiring in Uruguay

For this scenario, the contractor registers the personal-service activity with DGI and BPS, invoices under that registration, and remains responsible for Uruguayan income tax on work performed from Uruguay. The fixed foreign buyer falls outside the ordinary IRPF withholding-agent list because it is neither a listed Uruguayan IRAE taxpayer nor a public body, so the invoice is paid without a Uruguayan IRPF deduction. Onboarding then splits in two. Services outside the university-professional and notarial funds use the BPS non-professional route. A covered university profession adds the CJPPU free-practice regime. Record the selected branch, registered name, RUT and contribution evidence before the first invoice; none of those records determines worker status by itself.

Sources: Banco de Previsión Social, Personal-service activity registration, Dirección General Impositiva, services from Uruguay to a foreign company, Decree 148/007, article 73

If the line is crossed

If Uruguayan labour law applies and the relationship is reclassified, the foreign buyer can face employee claims even though the individual held a RUT and paid personal-service contributions. Judgment 1559/2018 upheld awards covering paid leave, holiday pay, annual bonus, overtime and related amounts, with statutory additions, adjustment and interest in that case. Social security follows a distinctive rule for this exact foreign-employer setup. Since 1 August 2023, a person working in Uruguay as a dependent for a foreign company without a local permanent establishment registers with BPS as a non-dependent worker, contributes on remuneration actually received and files monthly named declarations. Documented treaty coverage in the employer's country can displace that BPS route. Labour exposure and social-security enrollment therefore require separate corrections.

Sources: Supreme Court of Justice, Judgment 1559/2018, Banco de Previsión Social, Dependents of foreign companies without a local establishment

Constancia de inscripción en RUT

Taxpayer register constancy

This DGI constancy confirms that the person or one-person business appearing on the CFE has an active entry in the taxpayer register. DGI lists the web document as constancy 6951. Collect it once during onboarding and compare the registered issuer with the agreement and the first CFE. A mismatch between the personal name, trading name and invoice issuer should return for explanation before payment. The constancy proves registration only. It does not prove that contributions are current, that the service qualifies as an IVA export or that the working relationship is independent.

Issued by: DGI issues constancia 6951 to the registered taxpayer; the contractor downloads it and hands it to the buyer's onboarding team.

Timing: Collect before the first invoice and refresh after a change to the contracting name, tax registration or activity.

Sources: Dirección General Impositiva, Issued certificates, Government of Uruguay, One-person business registration

Certificado de estar al día de la CJPPU

University Professionals Fund good-standing certificate

This certificate supports the university-professional branch by showing the professional can generate current good-standing evidence through the CJPPU service. The Fund says entities may request it to verify proper professional practice. Ask for it when the contracted work depends on a CJPPU-covered professional capacity, such as a regulated advisory or technical sign-off. Keep the certificate with the professional authorization and scope, because the three records answer different questions. The certificate is not an ordinary attachment to every CFE and does not establish independent-contractor status.

Issued by: Self-generated by the professional through the Caja de Jubilaciones y Pensiones de Profesionales Universitarios online service and delivered to the requesting entity.

Timing: Collect at onboarding when professional standing matters to the scope, then refresh under the buyer's credential-review cycle.

Sources: Caja de Profesionales Universitarios, Good-standing certificate

Invoice acceptance starts with the service category and where its benefit is used. Uruguay treats qualifying service exports as outside IVA, and article 34 supplies an exhaustive list. Consulting, technical assistance, training, audit, translation, design and related advice can qualify when they concern activities, assets or rights economically used outside Uruguay. Custom software work, software licensing and assignment of software-use rights have their own listed entries. Each branch also requires exclusive use abroad. Put the foreign recipient, exact deliverables, relevant business or rights and place of use into the contract record before accepting an invoice without IVA. Work used by a Uruguay operation, or work outside the listed categories, needs a different tax treatment even when the customer address is foreign.

Sources: Dirección General Impositiva, Personal services within IVA, Decree 220/998, article 34

What an invoice has to show

• The CFE type that matches the service's export treatment

  Uruguay expressly makes the e-Factura de Exportación optional for exports of services, so its absence alone does not make a qualifying service invoice defective. If the option is used, first confirm that article 34 actually reaches the service. The CFE rules otherwise place a nonresident entity without a Uruguay RUT in the consumer-final category for document selection. That classification is limited to the fiscal-document system and does not change the B2B contract into a consumer relationship. Reject an invoice that combines export wording with a scope or place of use that fails the export conditions.

  Sources: DGI Resolution 798/012, electronic fiscal documents, Decree 220/998, article 34

• The foreign customer's full legal name and address on an export-service CFE

  For exports of goods or services, Resolution 798/012 displaces the ordinary recipient-number threshold and requires the recipient's name or denomination and domicile. Give the contractor the exact contracting name and address before the first bill, then return shortened group names, outdated addresses or a different group company for correction. These fields identify the recipient of the export. They do not prove that the benefit is used exclusively abroad, so retain the service agreement and delivery record beside the CFE.

  Sources: DGI Resolution 798/012, electronic fiscal documents

• A CFE accepted by DGI, with any later change made through the corresponding correction note

  DGI rejection changes the document the payer can rely on. The issuer must annul a rejected CFE and create a new document with a new number for the same operation. Once DGI has accepted the CFE, changes are made only through the matching correction note. Build invoice intake around the CFE number and status, then link any replacement or correction to the original approval record. Paying a rejected document leaves the accounts file detached from the fiscal document that ultimately records the service.

  Sources: DGI Resolution 798/012, electronic fiscal documents

The Uruguay contractor bills the service through a CFE, and payment falls due on the date and approval trigger written into the service agreement. The CFE records the service line and value; the agreement should state whether acceptance depends on a deliverable, a timesheet or a calendar date. Uruguayan private law treats a valid contract as binding and requires good-faith performance. This cross-border service therefore needs its due date stated expressly instead of assuming a thirty-day cadence. Put the billing period, evidence needed for approval, correction route, currency and due date into the signed terms. That keeps commercial approval separate from DGI acceptance of the tax document.

Sources: DGI Resolution 798/012, electronic fiscal documents, Civil Code, article 1291

When invoices are settled

When Uruguayan substantive law governs, the agreed due date controls the settlement window. Article 1336 allows the debtor to fall into default at expiry where the agreement says expiry alone has that effect; otherwise default follows judicial demand or formal notice under the article. Write both the number of days and the event that starts the clock, then state whether expiry itself triggers default. For a money debt, the Civil Code describes delay damages as legal interest and generally starts that interest from the claim or a conciliation summons followed by a claim, subject to special rules. Before applying late-interest guidance, determine at the claim date whether the contract, the Civil Code's legal-interest rule, or a special commercial rule supplies the applicable rate.

Sources: Civil Code, article 1336, Civil Code, article 1348

The currency on the invoice

The contractor can state the cross-border service in the currency agreed with the buyer, while keeping a peso conversion for Uruguayan tax records. DGI requires foreign-currency income and purchases to be converted at the interbank exchange rate from the day before the transaction. If that day has no quote, the last prior business-day quote is used; a currency without an interbank quote is first arbitraged against US dollars. Put the transaction date and currency clearly on the CFE and preserve the conversion used by the contractor. The tax conversion does not require the buyer to change the contract price or settle in Uruguayan pesos.

Sources: Dirección General Impositiva, Foreign-currency transactions

Treating RUT and BPS registration as a contractor-status certificate

Registration proves that the supplier has entered the tax and contribution systems. It does not decide legal subordination. The Supreme Court record in Judgment 1559/2018 included one-person businesses and personal tax contributions, while the operative finding rested on hours, directed tasks, presentation under the customer's identity and disciplinary power. Review those facts at signature and again when the operating model changes. A clean invoice file cannot offset a manager who sets daily availability, directs the method and disciplines the individual like staff. Keep status review separate from tax onboarding so each record answers the question it can actually prove.

Sources: Supreme Court of Justice, Judgment 1559/2018

Leaving exclusive foreign use undocumented under article 34

A foreign customer address establishes the recipient location, while article 34 still requires the right service and the right place of use. For advice and technical work, connect the scope to activities, assets or rights economically used outside Uruguay. For listed consulting and software branches, record exclusive use abroad. If a Uruguay office, asset or operating team consumes the deliverable, return the tax treatment for review before approving an invoice without IVA. The contract should name the benefited business and intended use, and the delivery record should remain consistent with those facts throughout the engagement.

Sources: Decree 220/998, article 34, Dirección General Impositiva, Personal services within IVA

Paying a CFE that DGI has rejected or the contractor has informally overwritten

A rejected CFE must be annulled and replaced with a new number. An accepted CFE is changed through its corresponding correction note. An updated PDF carrying the old number does not perform either step. Capture the CFE number and acceptance status during invoice intake, then link every replacement or note to the first document. If the recipient name, address, currency or service description is wrong, pause approval until the contractor follows the correct correction route. The payment file should end with the fiscal document DGI recognizes and a visible chain from the original error to its resolution.

Sources: DGI Resolution 798/012, electronic fiscal documents