Q&A: What’s on the horizon for the Dominican Republic?
Gabriel Dejarden, member of the executive committee of ECIJA, discusses the legal trends in the Dominican Republic, and the firm’s role in Latin America.
Firstly, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to engage with you and your readers. In the Proptech area, we are seeing efforts from the Dominican government to somehow regulate online marketplaces for short and long-term homestays and experiences. Our impression so far is that the aim of these new rules would be to level the playing field. Traditional hotels are required to obtain permits from the Ministry of Tourism and other institutions to carry out their activities. It remains to be seen whether these platforms and/or their clients will also need to make new tax payments or observe new fiscal rules. In the TMT sector, there has been talk for a while to tax online marketplaces and streaming services with VAT, which is 18% in the Dominican Republic. Such proposed measures have been referenced in budgets prepared by the Dominican government, but so far, no regulation or statute has been approved towards this end. We believe that such a measure could potentially be approved in the context of a comprehensive tax reform bill or a stand-alone regulation after a new presidential term begins on 16 August 2024.
