How to pay contractors in Chile

How to choose: five questions for paying a contractor in Chile

1. Is the contractor an individual or a company? An individual invoices with a boleta de honorarios electrónica, and the SII lets them issue it to a foreign client against RUT 44.444.446-0 plus the client’s name (SII, checked 2026-10-10). A company issues a factura, and for a service export that needs the National Customs Service to qualify the service first (SII, checked 2026-10-10). If the contractor is a person, collect a boleta for each payment and keep the contract beside it. If they are a company, ask which factura they issue and whether the service is qualified as an export.

2. Who bears the 15.25%? The tax on a boleta is 15.25% in 2026, 16% in 2027 and 17% in 2028 (SII, checked 2026-10-10). When the recipient is not a Chilean withholding agent, as a foreign client is not, the contractor receives the invoice gross and pays the PPM themselves on Form 29 (SII, checked 2026-10-10). On a CLP 1,000,000 boleta that is CLP 152,500 the contractor sets aside. If you pay through a Chilean entity that is a withholding agent, it retains the 15.25% from the invoice, so say in the contract whether the fee is gross or net. A contractor who quotes a net rate in 2026 needs a higher invoice in 2027.

3. Pesos, or dollars? Wise delivers pesos to any Chilean bank account against the contractor’s RUT, up to CLP 1 billion per transfer, usually one working day after conversion, which can take up to two (wise.com, checked 2026-10-10). Mellow also credits CLP bank accounts, which must be in the contractor’s name and country of residence (Mellow, checked 2026-10-10). A SWIFT wire can carry dollars; the contractor’s bank says whether the payment has to be reported under the 2026 exchange rules. Pesos: Wise or a platform paying CLP. Dollars: a wire, once the contractor confirms their account can take them.

4. How much do you pay each month? Fees come as a percentage per payout or a monthly seat. At 3%, a percentage fee equals a $29 seat at about $967 a month, a $40 seat at about $1,333 and a $49 seat at about $1,633. Below that, a percentage fee costs less; above it a seat does. A contractor’s contributions do not enter this arithmetic: they are settled in the contractor’s own annual return.

5. How close is the engagement to employment? Articles 7 and 8 of the Código del Trabajo presume an employment contract wherever personal services are provided under dependence and subordination (dt.gob.cl, checked 2026-10-10). The Dirección del Trabajo has looked at attendance, working hours, supervision and instructions, and found employment behind a “honorarios” label (dt.gob.cl, Ord. 3521/118, checked 2026-10-10); see also contractor misclassification. If that fits your contractor, use a Contractor of Record. 4dev acts as Contractor of Record — the contracting party for each contractor — which reduces reclassification risk; Deel, Remote, Multiplier, Rivermate and Mellow also list one. Read the liability clause in the COR contract, not the product name. If the role is a job, hire through an EOR; see Employer of Record in Chile.

Rule of thumb. One contractor who wants pesos, under about $1,600 a month: Wise or a percentage-fee platform. A team, or a document with every payment: a contractor platform. Single-client, full-time work: a Contractor of Record, or an EOR if it is a job. Compare the field in the contractor payouts rating.

Payout rails that work in Chile in 2026

Chile’s exchange rules were rewritten in the Banco Central’s new Compendium of International Exchange Rules, in force since 1 January 2026 (bcentral.cl, checked 2026-10-10). It replaced the older chapters; we did not find a plain-language summary of what it means for incoming service payments, so confirm reporting duties with the contractor’s bank before the first payment.

What the contractor needs

A freelance developer, designer or writer in Chile usually invoices as an individual. They need a RUT and an SII online account to issue electronic boletas de honorarios, one per payment. A boleta for a recipient with no Chilean address or residence uses RUT 44.444.446-0 plus the client’s name; the SII warns that using that RUT for people with Chilean domicile draws penalties (SII, checked 2026-10-10). The boleta is subject to the contractor’s own PPM, 15.25% in 2026, declared and paid monthly on Form 29 (SII, checked 2026-10-10).

Contributions come on top. A contractor whose boletas for the year reach CLP 2,767,765, five minimum monthly incomes for 2025, contributes on 80% of the year’s boletas through the annual return, and chooses total or partial coverage (ChileAtiende, checked 2026-10-10). Annual income tax follows the Global Complementario scale: nothing up to CLP 11,265,804, then 4% to 40% (on 2025 income; SII, checked 2026-10-10).

A company contractor issues a factura instead; a service export invoice needs prior qualification by the National Customs Service (SII, checked 2026-10-10). Classification, IP and the contract are in our hiring guide.

Documents and tax on the payer’s side

Chilean withholding. A foreign client pays the invoice gross. The recipient of a boleta only retains 15.25% when it acts as a Chilean withholding agent (SII, checked 2026-10-10).

US payers. The US–Chile income tax treaty entered into force on 19 December 2023 and applies to taxes withheld at source from 1 February 2024 (PwC, checked 2026-10-10); Chile is on the IRS treaty list (irs.gov, checked 2026-10-10). Pay for services performed in Chile is foreign-source income (irs.gov, checked 2026-10-10), with no US withholding and no Form 1099-NEC. An individual signs Form W-8BEN.

What to keep on file:

• the signed services contract, with currency, receiving account and who bears transfer charges;
• the contractor’s boleta for each payment;
• payment confirmations with the boleta number in the reference;
• the W-8BEN, if you are a US payer.

On a platform or Contractor of Record model you keep the platform’s invoice; the platform holds the contractor’s documents.

Where it breaks

• The contractor quotes net. Nothing is withheld, so the 15.25% PPM and the annual contribution come out of the contractor’s pocket. A net rate agreed in 2026 is short in 2027, when the rate goes to 16%.
• A withholding recipient in the chain. If the boleta names a Chilean recipient that retains, 15.25% comes off the invoice before the contractor is paid (SII, checked 2026-10-10). Settle gross versus net in writing.
• No RUT, no Wise. Wise lists the RUT as mandatory for a CLP transfer (wise.com, checked 2026-10-10); a contractor without one cannot receive pesos this way.
• The account is not the contractor’s. Mellow requires the beneficiary’s name, address and tax details to match the account, in the country of residence.
• Wrong RUT on the boleta. 44.444.446-0 is for recipients with no Chilean domicile. Using it for one who has a Chilean address is penalised.
• Intermediary charges. On a SWIFT wire, less than the invoice can arrive; fix who pays in the contract.
• Reclassification. A “honorarios” label does not settle it: continuity, attendance, hours, supervision and instructions on method and timing point to employment (dt.gob.cl, checked 2026-10-10).