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Esteban A. Sánchez Caribbean Counsel · Punta Cana
caribbeancounseldr.com / real estate / confotur
CONFOTUR Legal Assistance for Foreign Buyers.
CONFOTUR provides tax incentives for qualifying real estate projects in the Dominican Republic. Not all projects qualify, and not all developers apply the rules correctly.
Request CONFOTUR Verification →
What I review. Before you close.
Every CONFOTUR engagement starts with a structured review of the project and your contract. I confirm what the exemption covers, whether the developer has applied it correctly, and what it means for your closing costs.
  • — CONFOTUR status of the project
  • — Validity of the tax exemption
  • — Scope of the benefits
  • — Impact on closing costs
  • — Contract clauses that mention CONFOTUR
  • — Developer compliance
The benefit · § 01
A real benefit. Only when the project qualifies.
CONFOTUR (Law 158-01) exempts qualifying tourism properties from the 3% transfer tax and the 1% annual property tax for 15 years. Not all projects qualify. And among those that do, not all developers apply the rules correctly. Eligibility comes with the project. The exemption comes with proper compliance.
Law No. 158-01 · Tourism Incentive
Transfer tax 3% · exempt
Annual property tax (IPI) 1% · exempt
Duration 15 years
How it attaches By application — never automatic
What we do · § 02
Risks buyers face, and why legal review matters.
1.
Risks
  • — Buying in a project claiming CONFOTUR without approval
  • — Incorrect tax expectations
  • — Developers misrepresenting benefits
  • — Unexpected closing costs if CONFOTUR does not apply
2.
Benefits of legal review
  • — Clarity on your tax benefits
  • — Accurate cost expectations
  • — Verification of project compliance
3.
What I verify
The project's CONFOTUR status, the validity and scope of the exemption, its impact on your closing costs, and whether the developer is applying the rules correctly.
Esteban A. Sánchez · Counsel
Esteban A. Sánchez · Counsel
Who handles it · § 03
You talk to the lawyer. Every time.
I'm Esteban A. Sánchez, a Dominican attorney based in Punta Cana. International buyers reach me directly. The CONFOTUR process touches three government offices, and the difference between a benefit on paper and a benefit on your title is whether someone actually carried it through all three. I handle that personally.
Selected matters · § 04
What gets missed, and what it's worth.
Names redacted · outcomes factual
Filed after the fact Outcome
A buyer closed believing the exemption was automatic. It was never filed. We submitted the applications and recorded the benefit before the next annual tax cycle, protecting fifteen years of exemption that would otherwise have lapsed.
15 years protected
Caught before closing Outcome
During a purchase, we confirmed the unit's CONFOTUR status and built the filing into the transaction, so the exemption attached to the title at transfer instead of becoming the buyer's problem afterward.
Attached at transfer
Questions · § 05
Before you reach out.
The questions buyers ask about the CONFOTUR exemption. Plain answers.
01. Is the CONFOTUR exemption automatic if I buy in an approved project? +
No. The project's approval makes your unit eligible. The exemption itself requires a formal application to Hacienda and approval from the DGII and the Registro de Títulos before it attaches to your title.
02. What does CONFOTUR actually exempt? +
The 3% real estate transfer tax and the 1% annual property tax (IPI), for 15 years, on qualifying properties.
03. The developer said it's handled. Is it? +
Sometimes the developer files for the project. The benefit still has to be applied to each owner's title. Unless you've seen proof the exemption was recorded against your specific property, it's worth confirming. The cost of checking is small. The cost of assuming is fifteen years of tax.
04. I already closed. Is it too late to file? +
Often not. If the exemption was never filed, it can usually still be applied, but timing matters and each cycle you wait is a year of benefit you don't get back.
05. How do I know if my exemption was ever registered? +
We can check the status against the Registro de Títulos and the DGII and tell you exactly where it stands: filed, pending, or never submitted.
Know whether your project qualifies. Know whether it's applied correctly.
CONFOTUR can mean significant savings at closing and over time — but only if the project genuinely qualifies and the developer has applied the rules correctly. I'll verify both before you commit.
Request CONFOTUR Verification →
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