The Chilean Internal Revenue Service is demanding repayment of delinquent pandemic relief loan instalments from 1,073,590 taxpayers who failed to file income tax returns between 2022 and 2026, with a combined debt exceeding CLP 553 billion and an end-of-August filing deadline to avoid further penalties under Laws No. 21,242, No. 21,252 (2020) and No. 21,323 (2021).
Chile’s tax authority (SII) announced on 13 August 2026 that around 1.07 million people who received pandemic relief loans through Chile’s solidarity loan programme face repayment demands after failing to file tax returns during the 2022–2026 benefit period.
The SII has set an end-of-August deadline for these taxpayers to file outstanding tax forms, beyond which penalties will apply.
The shortfall traces back to a legal requirement embedded in Laws No. 21,242 and No. 21,252 (2020) and Law No. 21,323 (2021). Recipients had to submit income tax returns each year to receive their instalment payments. Those who didn’t file but earned income are now responsible for repaying the skipped instalments, even though they initially qualified for the loans by demonstrating financial hardship during the pandemic.
The numbers tell the story
The debt pile is substantial, at over CLP 553 billion owed by 1,073,590 individuals.
The SII plans to mail payment slips in September, calculated with accrued interest and inflation adjustments using the Consumer Price Index. One exception exists under the law—if someone had genuinely zero income in a given year, that year’s instalment won’t be charged.
To put the scale in perspective, 1,857,380 unique taxpayer identification numbers (RUTs) applied for the loans in 2020 and 2021, receiving a combined total exceeding CLP 2 trillion (nominal). Between 2022 and 2026, only 127,946 people stayed current, making full payments of over CLP 953 billion.
Meanwhile, 427,938 taxpayers who did pay had remaining balances of roughly CLP 184 billion wiped clean per the original law.
How the original structure worked
The loans were distributed over four instalments: the first at 10% of the total requested amount, the remaining three at 30% each. Crucially, no single year’s payment could exceed 5% of that year’s declared income. A 3% monthly withholding from wages and self-employment income helped fund the repayments automatically.
Taxpayers can file their delinquent returns via the SII website through 31 August 2026 to avoid further penalties.
Payment options include the SII portal, the TGR website, or authorised banks.
