Dominican Republic VAT rate
Impuesto sobre Transferencias de Bienes Industrializados y Servicios (ITBIS) — the Dominican Republic's value-added tax, governed by Título III of the Código Tributario (Ley 11-92) as amended by Ley 253-12.
| Current value | 18 percent |
|---|---|
| In force from | 2013-01-01 |
| Official source | DGII — ITBIS (Ciclo del Contribuyente / Principales Impuestos): 'la tasa del ITBIS a aplicar a las transferencias de bienes gravadas y/o prestación de servicios a partir del 2016 será del 18%' (Ley 253-12, Art. 23, Párrafos I y II) |
| Last verified | 2026-07-16 |
| Verification | primary — No verification limitation recorded — read from the official source cited. |
| Provenance | source fingerprint |
What this value means
Statutory quirk: Art. 341 of the Código Tributario nominally still reads 16% (per Ley 288-04), but the operative rate is set by Art. 345 as modified by Art. 23 of Ley 253-12 (9 Nov 2012), which raised ITBIS to 18% from 2013 with a conditional step-down to 16% from 2015 tied to the Estrategia Nacional de Desarrollo tax-pressure target (Ley 1-12, indicador 3.25) — a condition never met, so DGII confirms 18% applies from 2016 onward. Consolidated Título III text: https://dgii.gov.do/legislacion/codigotributario/cdigo%20tributario/titulo3.pdf. REDUCED RATE: 16% on listed basic-basket derivados lácteos (yogurt, butter), coffee, edible fats/oils, sugars and cocoa/chocolate (Art. 23 Párrafo II Ley 253-12; phased 8%/11%/13%/16% over 2013-2016). ZERO RATE: exports (Art. 342). EXEMPT (Art. 343-344): basic foodstuffs (live animals, fresh meats/fish, milk, rice, wheat flour, fresh produce, grains), medicines, books, and services including financial, health, education, ground passenger transport, electricity/water, and residential rent. The Oct-2024 'modernización fiscal' proposals that would have broadened the ITBIS base were withdrawn. A later reform DID pass — Ley 30-26 (promulgated 18 Jun 2026) — but it is ISR-focused (a transitory corporate-tax surcharge and a FY2027 personal-income-tax scale) and does NOT change the ITBIS rate or base, which remain 18% with the exemptions above. Verify annually with each Presupuesto/tax-reform cycle.
Get it programmatically
curl https://usaref.dev/v1/do/vat
# $0.001 per call — x402 on Base (USDC). No key, no signup.
# History: curl https://usaref.dev/v1/do/vat/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://usaref.dev/provenance/do/vatOther Dominican Republic series: policy interest rate · minimum wage · public holidays · inflation rate (CPI) · corporate tax rate · income tax rates