Taxes for a Mercado Libre seller: 6 countries compared
I sell on Mercado Libre from Argentina, bring goods in from China and run my own warehouse in Buenos Aires. Everything written here has been tested on my own shipments, not retold from someone else’s guides.
Comparing countries by profit-tax rate is pointless. A marketplace seller pays nothing like what the investor handbooks describe. There is a simplified regime with its own ceiling. There are platform withholdings. And there is customs, where half of what you paid may come back, or may not.
Below is a comparison on the parameters that decide it. Figures as of July 2026, exchange rates at the end of July.
Simplified regimes. Where everyone starts
Each of the six countries has a regime for small traders. They are built differently, from a single fixed payment to a percentage of turnover.
| Country | Regime | What you pay | Turnover ceiling |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇷 Argentina | Monotributo | a fixed payment by category A–K | ~126.6m ARS ≈ $84k |
| 🇧🇷 Brazil | MEI | a fixed DAS of about R$82 a month | R$81 000 ≈ $16k |
| 🇲🇽 Mexico | an individual through the platform | ISR 2.5% + IVA 8%, withheld by Mercado Libre | 300 000 MXN ≈ $17k |
| 🇨🇴 Colombia | RST | 1.6% of turnover on the first band | no IVA charged up to ≈ $57k |
| 🇺🇾 Uruguay | Literal E | a fixed IVA mínimo of ~5,910 UYU a month | ~1.96m UYU ≈ $49k |
| 🇨🇱 Chile | Pro Pyme Transparente | 0% for the company, profit is taxed at your personal rate | up to 75,000 UF several million $ |
The most unexpected conclusion from the table. Brazil is the region’s largest market, and its simplified regime is the tightest. Sixteen thousand dollars a year, with the limit unchanged since 2018. Argentina gives a ceiling five times higher. The rule “big country, big opportunity” does not hold at the start.
The three models these regimes follow
A fixed payment. Argentina and Uruguay. You pay one sum a month, whatever your turnover. While you are inside the limit it is convenient and predictable. In Uruguay it is literally one payment, covering both VAT and profit tax. The simplest way into the region.
A percentage of turnover. Colombia. The first band is 1.6%, then 2.0%, 3.5% and 4.5%. It is charged on revenue, so with a weak margin you pay even in a loss-making month.
The platform pays for you. Mexico is the only country where Mercado Libre withholds ISR and IVA straight from the sale and that is the final tax. You declare nothing, but the ceiling is low: 300 thousand pesos a year.
The Mexican trap. The popular RESICO regime is incompatible with marketplaces. People sign up for it on the advice of an accountant unfamiliar with how platforms work, and then have to switch.
Once you have outgrown the simplified regime. Company rates
| Country | VAT | Profit tax | Additionally |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇷 Argentina | 21% | 25% up to 133.5m ARS, then 30% and 35% | IIBB ~4.5% of turnover, dividends 7% |
| 🇧🇷 Brazil | ICMS 17–20% by state | Simples: from 4% of turnover (retail) | IPI, PIS 2,1%, COFINS 9,65% |
| 🇲🇽 Mexico | 16% | ISR 30% | dividends +10% |
| 🇨🇴 Colombia | 19% | renta 35% | ICA ~0.45% by city of dispatch |
| 🇺🇾 Uruguay | 22% | IRAE 25% | property tax, dividends 7% |
| 🇨🇱 Chile | 19% | IDPC 12.5% on Pro Pyme | the relief runs through 2027 |
The lowest corporate rate is in Chile, 12.5% for small companies. It is a preferential regime and it has an expiry date. The highest headline rate is in Colombia, 35%. But you cannot judge by headline rates, and here is why.
What actually decides it. Whether customs taxes are recoverable
For an importer the profit-tax rate is far from the main thing. The main thing is how much of what was paid at customs comes back.
In Argentina, importing a container means laying out about 84% of the batch’s value. That covers the duty, the statistical fee, IVA, the IVA advance, the profit-tax advance and the IIBB advance. It sounds catastrophic. But for a company with Responsable Inscripto status the real cost is about 23%, and the rest comes back as a credit. For a monotributista nothing comes back.
The difference between two regimes in one country is greater than the difference between countries. Half again on your cost base outweighs any gain from choosing a jurisdiction.
| Country | What comes back to the importer |
|---|---|
| 🇦🇷 Argentina | IVA and all advances on Responsable Inscripto; nothing on monotributo |
| 🇧🇷 Brazil | on Lucro Real almost the whole cascade; on Simples, nothing |
| 🇲🇽 Mexico | 16% IVA on formal imports; parcel tax never comes back |
| 🇨🇴 Colombia | 19% IVA for a responsable de IVA |
| 🇺🇾 Uruguay | IVA and advances for a company with a RUT; the flat 60% on parcels — never |
| 🇨🇱 Chile | 19% IVA — and that is nearly the whole payment if you have a certificate of origin |
Chile stands apart. With a Chinese Form F certificate the duty falls to zero, and the entire customs payment comes down to recoverable VAT. For a registered seller the burden on imports tends towards zero.
Where to start
You want to try it legally and without an accountant. Then Uruguay. One fixed payment, registration in a day, no state fees. One downside: the market is small.
You plan to import from China. Look at Chile and Argentina. Chile has the cheapest customs, Argentina the higher simplified-regime ceiling and better platform economics.
You need volume. That is Brazil, but go in with an accountant and on a proper regime from the start. MEI runs out at sixteen thousand dollars, and Simples is the worst possible choice for an importer.
You do not want to deal with taxes at all. Then Mexico, where the platform withholds everything itself. Just remember the ceiling and the incompatibility with RESICO.
You can work out your own economics across all six countries at once in the free calculator. Both tax regimes of each country sit there side by side, in one calculation.
⭐ By the way: the rates for all six countries are built into the unit-economics tables from the PRO pack. The sole-trader and company regimes are worked out side by side, and the customs calculator shows how much of the payments comes back.
Working out your unit economics?
Our free calculator works out profit, margin and ROI with commission, shipping, taxes and ads included, across all 6 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay and Chile.
Open the calculator → ⭐ PRO — customs and unit-economics tables Ask in the chat 🚀 Three ways to start