The Dominican Republic had opened a public consultation on draft regulations implementing Law No. 30-26 on Pro-Economic Growth Measures, Tax Simplification, and Mitigation of the International Crisis. The consultation had been scheduled to run from 7 September to 8 October 2026.
The Dominican Republic’s Executive Power had submitted the draft Application Regulation for Law No. 30-26 for public consultation, setting out rules on tax procedures, incentive regimes, withholding taxes and other administrative measures.
The consultation was open from 7 September to 8 October 2026. Questions and comments could be submitted through the “submit comments” form accompanying the publication.
Tax incentives
The draft regulation provided that a single tax-generating event, economic activity, investment or operation could not benefit from more than one special tax incentive regime.
Taxpayers conducting separate economic activities or investments could access different incentive regimes if they maintained separate accounting identifying the revenues, costs, expenses, assets and liabilities of each activity.
The Ministry of Finance and Economy could request the Executive Power to object to a taxpayer’s incentive classification where a technical report showed that the investment:
- Failed to meet the objectives of the law;
- Generated tax expenditure exceeding its social benefit;
- Created unfair competition or market distortions;
- Was profitable without the incentive; or
- Failed to generate wider economic effects.
Tax appeals and debt consignment
Taxpayers challenging a tax debt administratively or judicially could consign the disputed amount with the tax administration, DGII.
DGII would be required to accept the consignment and could not apply precautionary collection measures. Consignment would immediately suspend late-payment surcharges and indemnity interest.
If the debt became res judicata, the consigned amount would extinguish the tax obligation. If the debt were annulled or reduced, the taxpayer could initiate a refund procedure for an undue or excess payment.
Payment agreements and audit discounts
DGII would assess payment agreement requests based on the taxpayer’s payment capacity, the amount of debt, tax compliance history and the sufficiency of guarantees offered.
The draft also proposed:
- 90% reduction: For voluntary tax return rectifications made without a prior tax authority determination or requirement.
- 70% discount: Where the taxpayer requested the discount within 20 business days of receiving a potential debt notice and accepted the identified tax determinations.
Payment under the latter procedure would complete the audit and result in a “no fiscal interest” certificate.
The statute of limitations would also be suspended for delinquent debt where a return was filed without timely payment, or where an audit debt became res judicata and remained unpaid.
Income tax rules
Residents would remain subject to tax on Dominican-source income and foreign-source income derived from investments, financial gains and technical assistance.
The draft regulation defined technical assistance as independent services provided locally or from abroad that supplied specialised knowledge, experience or skills through non-patentable procedures or techniques, including associated training.
Excluded services would include teaching, employee services, foreign trade or customs-transparent costs, travel reimbursements, intellectual property or equipment transfers, administrative execution without knowledge transfer, technical opinions without ongoing training and standardised mass digital services such as streaming, digital advertising and marketplaces.
Digital assets and software
Digital assets and cryptoassets would be defined as digital representations of value or rights based on Distributed Ledger Technology or similar cryptographic mechanisms. The definition would include stablecoins, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and crypto derivatives.
The draft distinguished royalties from software transactions. Payments for the use of patentable intangible assets or industrial or scientific equipment would constitute royalties, while software licences would be excluded.
Software licences would cover rights to use or exploit software where the licensor retained copyright. Periodic fees, subscriptions and usage-based payments would be presumed to constitute licences.
A software acquisition would instead involve a full, permanent and irrevocable transfer of the economic rights to the copyright.
Foreign tax credits
Taxpayers claiming credits for foreign tax withholdings would need to substantiate the claim by providing evidence of actual tax payment abroad, contracts or DGII-compliant invoices and proof of payment through reliable financial channels.
Withholding tax measures
The draft established several withholding rules, including a 15% withholding on a presumed net income equal to 20% of gross value, resulting in an effective 3% withholding, for:
- Cargo and passenger transportation services;
- Certain non-personal services, including cleaning, fumigation, electrical and mechanical repairs, masonry, carpentry, painting and plumbing;
- Civil construction contractors covering roads, aqueducts and buildings; and
- Transfers of registrable movable property.
A 15% ISR withholding on rental income would apply only where the tenant was a legal entity or organisation and the landlord was an individual receiving rent directly.
State suppliers authorised as electronic issuers and invoicing through E-CF would be exempt from the standard 5% ISR withholding.
A temporary 30% withholding rate would apply during fiscal years 2026, 2027 and 2028 to Dominican-source income payments of at least DOP 1,000,000,000.00 made to non-residents.
Primary residence and capital gains
The draft defined a primary residence as an individual’s physical, continuous main home.
The property would generally need to correspond to the seller’s RNC address, have a Title Certificate and active basic utility contracts, and have been continuously occupied for at least three years before the transfer.
Commercial, rental and vacation properties would be excluded.
For capital gains reinvestment into a new primary residence to qualify for exemption, the transaction would need to satisfy three conditions:
- Full or partial payment in accordance with the contract, supported by evidence;
- Payment of the 3% Real Estate Transfer Tax to DGII; and
- Formal deposit and registration of the title transfer with the Title Registry.
Pre-sale contracts, purchase options and unregistered private acts would not qualify.
Advance tax payments
Companies exceeding MSME revenue limits during a fiscal year would retain their existing advance payment schedule until the end of that year. The new classification would apply from the following fiscal year.
DGII could authorise full or partial reductions in advance payments where taxpayers demonstrated force majeure or exceptional circumstances.
ITBIS and other tax measures
Manufacturers of ITBIS-exempt goods could choose, for each purchase, either exemption through approval of a proforma invoice or payment of ITBIS followed by a tax credit. Both mechanisms could not be used for the same purchase.
Tax benefits and exemptions for life insurance would apply only to the life portion of premiums. Combined policies would therefore need to separately identify premiums attributable to life coverage.
The LPG contribution rate would be fixed at USD 174.50 per metric ton based on import parity pricing formulas.
Accelerated depreciation
The proposed regulation would expand the definition of “industrial use” for accelerated depreciation.
The definition would cover assets directly, habitually and necessarily used in production, transformation or technical service activities in sectors including commercial, healthcare, agro-industrial, shopping centre and power generation operations.
Medical, surgical, optical, measuring and precision instruments under Customs Tariff Chapter 90 could qualify where they complemented machinery under Chapters 84 or 85 or served as primary operational equipment.
Taxpayers would need to provide technical descriptions, customs tariff classifications, purchase invoices, payment evidence and written justification of industrial use.
Inheritance and asset valuation
The proposed rules would establish specific valuation methods for inherited assets.
Real estate would be valued at the higher of the cadastral value or DGII reference value. Vehicles and movable goods would use the DGII reference price or an official expert appraisal.
Bank accounts and publicly traded securities would be valued using certified balances or the stock exchange closing price on the date of death.
Private shares would be valued using the net book value or equity balance from the last closed fiscal year.
Donations and property transfers
Transfers of property between relatives would be assessed based on evidence including payment, third-party financing and market price references.
Where such indicators existed, the transaction could be treated as a taxable sale rather than a tax-exempt donation. Transfers between spouses would generally receive neutral tax treatment unless they arose from divorce.
Transit passengers
Passengers in transit who remained in the Dominican Republic for less than 24 hours without formally entering through immigration would be exempt from airport departure contributions.
