How to register your sole trader (unipersonal) in Uruguay, step by step

Registering a sole trader (empresa unipersonal) in Uruguay is simpler than it looks: it's a single procedure with BPS and DGI, done almost entirely online and with no paperwork to hand in. This guide walks you through the whole path, step by step, from what to decide first to what comes after you're registered.

Before you start: decide form and regime

Registering is the last step, not the first. First, be clear on two things: that the sole trader is the right form for you, and which tax regime you'll fall under (monotributo, Literal E or IRAE). If you're still unsure, review our complete guide to legal forms and tax regimes:

• Guide: Uruguay's legal forms and tax regimes

What registration is

Registration is the formal act of becoming a taxpayer before you start working. The State defines it as:

Per the State:

«Es el trámite mediante el cual una persona física cumple con la obligación de inscribirse como contribuyente ante la Administración Tributaria previo al inicio de la actividad económica.»

In English: It is the procedure by which an individual fulfils the obligation to register as a taxpayer with the Tax Administration before starting economic activity.

Who can open one, and what you need

Any individual about to carry out an economic activity on their own can open one — including foreigners, by showing their identity document (for foreign documents, a copy is requested). In tax terms, a business is:

Title 4 defines what counts as a business:

«Se considera empresa toda unidad productiva que combina capital y trabajo para producir un resultado económico.»

In English: A business is any productive unit that combines capital and labour to produce an economic result.

• Your identity document.
• A fiscal address (the address you register as your business's seat), backed by a UTE, OSE or ANTEL bill no older than 60 days in your name — or AGESIC's digital domicile certificate.
• An email address (for the electronic domicile).
• The activity you'll carry out and its CIIU code (the official code that classifies what you do), plus your chosen tax regime.

What if you're a university professional?

Here, “degree” means something precise: a habilitating university degree — the one the law requires to practise a regulated profession (doctor, lawyer, notary, architect, accountant, engineer, dentist, etc.) and that's on the Caja's list of titles with mandatory affiliation. It's not just any course or a technical diploma: it's the degree that legally enables you to practise that profession. For that professional practice you don't contribute to BPS but to the Caja de Profesionales Universitarios (CJPPU). The law is broad on when you're deemed to be practising:

Per Law 17.738 (Caja de Profesionales):

«se considera que un profesional con título universitario ejerce su profesión en forma libre, no sólo cuando realiza actos concretos relativos a la misma, sino también cuando está en disponibilidad de realizarlos»

In English: A professional with a university degree is deemed to practise their profession freely not only when performing concrete acts related to it, but also when available to perform them.

Three important points. First, if your degree is foreign, you must have it revalidated in Uruguay (through the MEC) for it to count here. Second, if you hold the degree but don't practise, you can file a “declaración de no ejercicio” to avoid generating contributions. Third, BPS still applies to your activities that don't require that degree (a separate shop, say): you can end up contributing to both funds, but for different activities. Check your case with the CJPPU:

A single procedure with BPS and DGI

Although they're two agencies, registering the sole trader is done in a single procedure that signs you up with both:

Per the official procedure:

«Esta gestión se realiza para inscribir la actividad de una persona física como empresa ante BPS y DGI.»

In English: This procedure registers an individual's activity as a business with BPS and DGI.

The steps, in order

The process, in short, is this. Most of it is completed online with your digital ID:

• Have your ID card, your address (with a recent UTE, OSE or ANTEL bill) and an email ready.
• Choose your activity (CIIU code) and the tax regime that applies to you.
• Register online (the State portal / BPS) or in person.
• Set up your electronic domicile with BPS.
• Get your DGI Servicios en Línea credential.
• Enable electronic invoicing (e-factura) before issuing your first invoice.

The electronic domicile

The electronic domicile is, in plain terms, an official inbox inside your government account: that's where BPS and DGI leave you legally-binding notifications (due dates, debts, notices, formal demands). The key point: you're deemed to have received them even if you don't read them, so you must set it up when you register and check it now and then. It's free and done online. As the owner you're required to have one:

Per BPS:

«Los titulares así como los representantes que no tienen restricciones en su actuación, deben constituir domicilio electrónico ante BPS.»

In English: Owners and representatives without restrictions on their actions must set up an electronic domicile with BPS.

Online or in person?

Today registration is completed online with your digital ID (Usuario gub.uy, electronic ID card, etc.), with no physical documents to submit:

Per the official procedure:

«La información necesaria para el registro se completa en línea, por lo que no se requiere presentar documentación.»

In English: The information needed for registration is completed online, so no documentation needs to be submitted.

That said, to authenticate online you need a verified digital identity: a Usuario gub.uy at intermediate (verified) level, a digital ID card with a reader, or Abitab's or Antel's Digital Identity — plus your BPS user and your electronic domicile. Just arrived in the country? You first need your Uruguayan ID card, and you probably don't have that digital identity set up yet. If you can't authenticate online, the in-person route exists but is limited: it's done only in Montevideo, at DGI (Fernández Crespo 1534) and by prior appointment; in the rest of the country only the online option is available. So it's worth getting your digital identity (or your electronic ID card) ready before you register.

When to do it

You can register within the month you start, and even a few days ahead if you start the following month. BPS puts it this way:

Per BPS:

«Puede realizarse dentro del mes en curso de inicio de actividades. Si el inicio de actividades es el mes siguiente: puede realizarse con carácter previo de hasta 10 días, a partir del día 25 del mes en curso.»

In English: It can be done within the current month of activity start. If activity starts the following month: it can be done in advance, up to 10 days, from the 25th of the current month.

Enable electronic invoicing (e-factura)

Invoicing is now electronic: instead of a paper invoice you issue an Electronic Fiscal Document (CFE), and DGI receives a copy of each one. The law defines the electronic issuer like this:

Per DGI:

«Es emisor electrónico el sujeto autorizado por la Dirección General Impositiva para documentar operaciones, mediante CFE.»

In English: An electronic issuer is the party authorised by the DGI to document operations through CFE (electronic fiscal documents).

And since 2025 it's mandatory for almost everyone:

«A partir del 1/1/2025 serán emisores electrónicos todos los contribuyentes de IVA, incluso de IVA Mínimo, con algunas excepciones puntuales.»

In English: From 1 January 2025, all VAT taxpayers, even IVA-mínimo ones, are electronic issuers, with a few specific exceptions.

Day to day you issue two kinds of document: the e-Ticket, when you sell to a final consumer, and the e-Factura, when you sell to another business with a RUT (which can then use the VAT credit). The system numbers them and reports them to DGI for you.

To issue them you need a DGI-authorised provider; businesses with their own systems can build their own software, but that's for larger ones. Important: there is no free DGI app to issue on your own — invoices always go through an authorised provider. The good news is that the provider route is a simplified mechanism with benefits:

Per DGI:

«Si se contrata un proveedor inscripto en el 'Registro de Proveedores Habilitados', podrá ingresar al régimen mediante un mecanismo simplificado y acceder a beneficios fiscales.»

In English: If you hire a provider listed in the 'Registry of Authorised Providers', you can enter the regime through a simplified mechanism and access tax benefits.

How do you become an electronic issuer? Broadly, the steps are these:

• Request your eFactura user in DGI's online services.
• Get a digital certificate (issued by Abitab, the post office or Antel) to sign your documents.
• Choose how you'll issue: an authorised provider (the simplest) or, if you have systems, your own development.
• Submit the application, run the test set and obtain DGI's authorisation.
• Done: you can now issue your CFEs — do it before your first invoice.

And here's the best part for the smallest: DGI refunds, as a tax credit, part or all of what you pay the provider, up to a monthly cap. If your plan costs less than that cap, you effectively invoice for free. The benefit applies to new businesses, IVA-mínimo taxpayers, or those with prior-year income below 750,000 UI:

Per DGI:

«El monto máximo de la devolución (crédito) es 80 UI mensuales convertidas al 1º de enero.»

In English: The maximum refund (credit) is 80 UI per month, converted as of 1 January.

What does it cost?

Registering has no cost in itself. What you pay each month are two things: your BPS contributions (a minimum by category, which includes the FONASA — the contribution that pays your mutualista, i.e. your health coverage) and your regime's tax (monotributo's single quota, Literal E's minimum VAT, or VAT + IRAE in the general regime). And there's good news for those just starting: the employer pension contribution (the part of your BPS contribution that funds your future pension) has a gradual discount in the first years:

Per BPS, the gradual exemption of the employer pension contribution:

«Las empresas que inician actividad tienen una exoneración del aporte patronal jubilatorio del 75% durante el primer año de actividad, 50% durante el segundo y 25% durante el tercero, abonándose el aporte pleno a partir del cuarto año.»

In English: Businesses starting activity have a 75% exemption from the employer pension contribution in the first year, 50% in the second and 25% in the third, paying the full contribution from the fourth year.

After registering

Once registered, download your constancia (the RUT card, F. 6906; the RUT is the number that identifies your business to DGI, like an ID card for the business): it's proof it exists, and banks and clients will ask for it. From then on you have monthly due dates: if you have no employees, the BPS day is the same for everyone (it doesn't depend on your RUT's last digit) and DGI uses a single monthly date. Tributo builds that personal calendar with every date and an estimated amount, so nothing slips by.

Frequently asked questions

• Do I need an accountant to register? It's not required, but it helps you pick the right regime and avoid early mistakes.
• Can I be employed and also have a sole trader? Yes, they're compatible; you contribute for each activity.
• Can I have more than one activity? Yes, one business can register more than one line of activity.
• How long does it take? Online registration is quick, and you get your RUT assigned to start operating.
• Can I close it later? Yes, you can wind up the business, and restart it if you work again.

In short: registering a sole trader is a single procedure with BPS and DGI, almost entirely online, paperless and with no registration fee, with a contribution discount in the first years. Verify the current steps in the official sources and, when in doubt, lean on an accountant.