Investment Tax Incentives in the Dominican Republic: Which Special Regime Fits Your Project?

Two investors arrive in the Dominican Republic with the same capital and the same industry. Five years later, one has paid full corporate taxes; the other has operated largely tax-exempt. The difference was not luck, it was choosing, and properly applying for, the right incentive regime before breaking ground.

Dominican law offers several sector-specific incentive regimes, each created by its own statute and administered by its own agency. Knowing which one fits your project, and which ones you can no longer combine — is now the first legal decision of any investment.

For exporters, the Exports Promotion Law 84-99 allows reimbursement of taxes and customs duties paid on raw materials, components, intermediate goods, labels, containers and packaging incorporated into export goods or returned abroad unaltered. It also creates a temporary admission regime: qualifying goods enter Dominican customs territory with duties suspended, provided they are re-exported within 18 months.

For energy projects, the Renewable Energy Law 57-07 grants companies producing renewable energy full exemption from import duties and sales tax (ITBIS) on equipment, machinery and accessories — including transmission, transformation and interconnection equipment — plus income tax relief for a defined period. This regime has been amended over the years, so the exact scope of the income tax benefit must be confirmed for each project.

For manufacturers, Law 56-07 declares the textile, apparel, footwear and leather industries a national priority, exempting the import or local purchase of raw materials, machinery, equipment and services from ITBIS and applying a zero tariff to covered imports. Unusually, companies under this regime may sell up to 100% of their output into the Dominican market.

For tourism developers, Law 158-01 (the CONFOTUR regime) has historically offered 15-year exemptions covering income tax on the incentivized investment, incorporation and capital-increase taxes, construction permits, property tax, transfer tax, and import taxes and ITBIS on first-equipment purchases, plus exemptions on financing withholdings.

One warning now overrides everything above. The fiscal reform enacted in June 2026 (Law 30-26) introduced a general rule into the Tax Code: a taxpayer may not benefit simultaneously from more than one incentive regime for the same economic activity, investment or operation, and it strengthened the Ministry of Finance’s power to vet and object to new beneficiary classifications. Structures that once stacked benefits — say, tourism and border-zone incentives on one project must now be re-examined.

Before committing capital, have counsel map every available regime against your project, confirm the current text of the relevant law, and model the after-tax outcome under each. Our foreign investment team advises on incentive eligibility, applications and post-reform restructuring across export, energy, manufacturing, real estate and tourism projects in the Dominican Republic — talk to us before you choose your regime, not after.

Do you want more information about our services for obtaining Dominican Republic Investment Tax Exemptions? Contact Us.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Felipe Castillo is a Partner leading the Foreign Investment, Real Estate & Tourism areas at Arthur & Castillo Advisers and Consultants in the Dominican Republic. He specializes in foreign investment, real estate and international business (Master in International Business, Entrepreneurship and Finance Studies from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. & Masters in International E- Business in Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona) with more than 20 years of experience in Foreign Investment, Free Trade Zones, International Business and Cross Border Real Estate practice. He is a Certified Business Bankruptcy Expert and English and Spanish Interpreter.

Email: fcastillo@aclaw.com

Disclaimer: This publication is not intended to provide advice or suggest a guaranteed outcome as individual situations will differ and the situation may have changed since publication. For specific advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.

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