Uruguay regulates cash limits for corporate payments

Cash is capped by two alternative thresholds

The decree implements articles 35, 35 bis and 38 of Financial Inclusion Law No. 19,210, following the March 2026 amendment made by article 3 of Law No. 20,469. Article 1 permits cash up to either 200,000 Indexed Units (UI) or 5% of the total transaction value, provided that the 5% amount does not exceed UI450,000. Any balance must use another payment method. For these purposes, cash includes domestic or foreign notes and coins.^[1][2][3]

Corporate funding and distributions are in scope

For commercial companies, the restriction expressly covers money entering or leaving through capital contributions, share premiums, irrevocable contributions, advances, capital repayments, dividends or profit distributions, partnership interests, withdrawals, reductions, redemptions, share amortisations and similar transactions under company law. Splitting an operation does not avoid the limits: article 3 aggregates all instalments. Instruments generally must identify the payment method, amount, originating institution and, where relevant, the issuer and recipient.^[1][2]

Financial institutions and specified transactions are exempt

Article 5 excludes cases where a party is a regulated bank, electronic-money issuer or certain other Central Bank-regulated financial services entity. It also excludes specified casino, expropriation, housing-programme and connected lending transactions. Where registration is required, public registries may refuse final registration if the payment restrictions or documentation requirements are not met, subject to the decree’s remediation rules.^[1][2]

Transition rules reach back to April payments

Article 7 applies the rules to payments made from 20 April 2026 under preliminary or final transactions entered into from that date. Earlier transactions can remain outside the regime if their earlier date is established through specified evidence. Certain payments made before 20 April that exceed the thresholds must obtain a legally certain date by 31 December 2026. Article 10 repeals Decrees Nos. 350/017 and 351/017.^[1][2]

Non-compliance creates a shared penalty exposure

A prohibited payment attracts a fine equal to 25% of the amount paid or received through an impermissible method, with a UI1,000 minimum and a UI10,000 minimum for repeat breaches. Payer and recipient are jointly liable, and the tax administration enforces the penalty. Multinational groups should therefore update treasury and legal-closing controls for Uruguayan capital movements, distributions and restructurings, including payment-method evidence and the transitional documentation deadline.^[1][2]