Forming a UK company from Chile: RUT and Companies House are different systems

The Rol Único Tributario (RUT) is Chile's taxpayer number administered by SII. Online paths cover Chilean companies, foreign natural-person investors and sociedades extranjeras.

A RUT is not a passport substitute for Companies House and is not compulsory for UK formation or ACSP identity checks.

Iniciación de Actividades is the SII notice generally required when starting businesses or occupations that produce certain Chilean taxable income, including independent professional services.

Persons domiciled abroad generally act through a Chile-resident representative. For a power granted abroad, the current SII page still instructs Chilean consular visa plus Ministry of Foreign Affairs legalisation and points to Formulario 4415.

Chile's Hague Apostille Convention entry into force (30 August 2016) means a Chilean apostille from the correct domestic competent authority can authenticate many Chilean public documents between Apostille parties — but that does not mean SII automatically accepts every foreign-granted power with an apostille alone, or that the published consular/MinRel wording is obsolete for every filing.

Confirm current acceptance with the SII office or adviser handling the filing. Dependent employees and mere partners of companies that are not foreign-company permanent establishments need not file Iniciación for those roles alone. None of this is a UK formation step.

Enter your name exactly as on the Latin-script data page of your issued passport. Compare it with the machine-readable zone. Flag differences with cédula, RUT extracts or Chilean bank statements early; never edit a document image to force a match.

Whether a company or founder is taxed in Chile depends on Chilean tax rules and the facts — management place, income source and personal domicile or residence — not on invoices merely issuing from a UK Ltd.

Living in Chile as a director does not automatically make every UK company a Chilean-resident taxpayer or a permanent establishment. Personal tax residence is separate from the company's position.

The UK–Chile tax treaty collection includes the 2003 Double Taxation Convention (in force; effective 1 January 2005 for the taxes listed there) and 2022 MLI synthesised text; this page does not decide your treaty outcome.

Get independent Chilean tax advice before you incorporate.

The UK and Chile are both parties to the Apostille Convention (in force for Chile since 30 August 2016 — Hague 1961 Apostille, not a separate Nairobi instrument).

UK public documents go through the FCDO legalisation service.

For Chilean public documents, HCCH Art.6 designates multiple competent authorities — not Foreign Affairs alone: Justice (Under-Secretary and regional ministerial secretaries), Education, Health and Civil and Identification Registration Service, plus authorised persons under those ministries.

The Ministry of Justice apostille page covers notarised instruments and certain court, property-registry and Justice-service documents; Education, Health and Registro Civil handle their own classes.

Foreign Affairs handles foreign-issued and consular documents and remains legalisation for non-Apostille destinations. Chile also runs an e-Apostille / e-Register. Authentication confirms a signature or seal, not content — and is not automatic for every filing.

Companies House requires directors and people with significant control (PSCs) to verify their identity. Link the verified identity to each relevant role; director verification does not replace a separate PSC linkage where that role applies.

Not every shareholder is automatically a PSC. An authorised corporate service provider (ACSP) can verify people in any country. Eteform supports that route for all nationalities, including chipless passports, subject to document checks — approval is not guaranteed. A RUT is not a passport substitute.

See identity verification.

Where WorldFirst is included in your package, we help prepare and submit the application within that agreed scope. WorldFirst decides eligibility, currencies and payment routes; it may request more documents or decline. Check the current packages.

Mateo, an imaginary UX contractor in Santiago, wants to bill European agencies through a UK Ltd while living in Chile.

Before incorporating, Mateo asks a Chilean accountant about permanent-establishment risk from Santiago decisions, whether a RUT-only path, Chilean SpA via RES, foreign-company inscription or Iniciación fits, and how Chilean versus overseas invoices should be treated — then chooses a path.

This illustrates a process, not a client case or promised result.