Commercial Offer / Quotation Chile (Oferta Comercial / Cotización)

A Commercial Offer Chile (Oferta Comercial / Cotización) is a formal, legally effective document governed by Article 97 of the Código Civil (enacted 14 December 1855) and Article 97 of the Código de Comercio (enacted 23 November 1865), through which a supplier (oferente) makes a binding proposal to provide specified goods or services at a defined price and under stated conditions to a potential buyer or client (destinatario) in Chile, creating a legally enforceable contract upon the recipient's timely acceptance in accordance with the statutory acceptance framework.

Under Código de Comercio Article 97, a commercial offer (oferta comercial) that specifies the essential terms of the proposed contract — the object of the supply (cosa o servicio), the price (precio), and the conditions of delivery (condiciones de entrega) — constitutes a legally binding proposal that may be accepted within the validity period stated by the offeror, or within the reasonable time established by Código de Comercio Articles 97–108 when no validity period is specified. Article 99 of the Código de Comercio establishes the offeror's right to revoke (retractar) the offer at any time before acceptance, but Article 100 provides that the offeror who revokes after the recipient has incurred costs in reliance on the offer is liable for damages (indemnización de gastos y daños y perjuicios) — a provision that underscores the commercial weight of formally issued quotations in Chilean business practice.

Article 97 of the Código Civil establishes the general framework for offer and acceptance (oferta y aceptación) in civil contracts, which is supplemented by the more specific commercial rules of the Código de Comercio for trading relationships. The distinction matters because commercial contracts (actos de comercio under Código de Comercio Article 3) may be governed by different evidentiary rules — Article 128 of the Código de Comercio permits proof of commercial agreements by any means (including witness testimony and electronic documents), whereas civil contracts above two UTM (Unidades Tributarias Mensuales, published monthly by the SII) generally require written documentation under Article 1709 of the Código Civil.

Tax compliance is a central feature of valid commercial quotations in Chile. Every commercial offer involving taxable goods or services must comply with the Ley sobre Impuesto a las Ventas y Servicios (DL 825 of 1974, the Ley IVA), which imposes the 19% Impuesto al Valor Agregado (IVA) on the supply of goods and taxable services. The quotation must state clearly whether prices are expressed including IVA (precio con IVA incluido) or excluding IVA (precio neto, más IVA), and must comply with the Resolución Exenta SII No. 80/2022 regarding electronic invoice (factura electrónica) requirements for VAT-registered suppliers (contribuyentes de IVA). Commercial quotations accepted by buyers trigger the obligation to issue a factura electrónica within the timeline established by the SII's electronic invoicing system (Sistema de Facturación Electrónica del SII).

For public procurement — tenders and quotations submitted through Chile Compra (Mercado Público), the government's centralized electronic procurement platform governed by Ley 19.886 (Ley de Bases sobre Contratos Administrativos) and its Reglamento (DS No. 250/2004) — commercial offers are governed by the specific rules of each Licitación Pública or Licitación Privada published on the www.mercadopublico.cl platform. Public procurement offers are irrevocable once submitted and ranked according to the evaluation criteria (criterios de evaluación) specified in the bases de licitación, which are reviewed for legality by the Contraloría General de la República under DFL No. 10.336.

For technology and software procurement, commercial offers must reference the specific licensing terms applicable under Ley 17.336 (copyright protection for software), and for regulated products — pharmaceuticals (ISP registration), food products (ACHIPIA authorization), medical devices (ISP Resolución No. 1.410/2014), and agrochemicals (SAG registro) — the commercial offer must include the relevant regulatory registration numbers required by the competent authority.

A Commercial Offer Chile is needed in virtually every business transaction where a supplier proposes goods or services to a potential client before a formal contract is signed — creating a documented, legally effective proposal that protects both parties under the Código de Comercio and Código Civil offer-and-acceptance framework.

Small and medium enterprises (PYMEs) registered with the SII under the régimen Pro-PYME (Ley 21.256 of 2020) use commercial quotations as the primary commercial document for most B2B transactions — from construction services and IT systems to marketing and consulting engagements. The quotation, once accepted, triggers the obligation to issue a factura electrónica under Resolución SII No. 80/2022 and to record the transaction in the Libro de Ventas and Registro de Compras maintained through the SII's portal tributario.

Public procurement participants must submit Commercial Offers through Chile Compra (Mercado Público) for licitaciones and cotizaciones under Ley 19.886, and for trato directo purchases (direct procurement without competitive tender) up to the UTM threshold established in Article 8 of DS No. 250/2004. The commercial offer for public procurement must comply strictly with the bases de licitación — including technical specifications, delivery timelines, guarantee bonds (boletas de garantía or pólizas de garantía under Ley 20.179), and price breakdown requirements.

Construction and real estate development companies engaged in projects subject to the Ministerio de Vivienda y Urbanismo (MINVU) and Dirección de Obras Municipales (DOM) permit processes issue quotations (cotizaciones) for construction services, materials supply, and specialist subcontracting. These quotations must comply with the Ley General de Urbanismo y Construcciones (DFL No. 458/1976) and Ordenanza General de Urbanismo y Construcciones (OGUC) requirements on professional certification (título profesional) of signatories when the work requires a registered professional under the Colegio de Ingenieros or Colegio de Arquitectos de Chile.

Import and export transactions documented through Chile's Sistema Integrado de Comercio Exterior (SICEX) administered by the Servicio Nacional de Aduanas require commercial offers and purchase orders (órdenes de compra) to support customs declarations (declaraciones de ingreso o salida) and the calculation of import duties under the Arancel Aduanero. Chile's free trade agreements — including the TLC Chile-USA (2004), TLC Chile-UE (2003), TLC Chile-China (2006), and TPP-11 (CPTPP, in force for Chile since 2023) — may provide preferential tariff rates applicable to goods described in the commercial offer.

Financial leasing (leasing financiero) and operational leasing companies supervised by the CMF (Comisión para el Mercado Financiero) issue commercial offers specifying the asset, lease term, monthly canon, and purchase option price — these offers are governed by both the commercial offer framework of the Código de Comercio and the specific financial leasing regulations under Ley 18.010 and CMF circulares.

A legally complete Commercial Offer Chile under Código de Comercio Article 97 and Código Civil Article 97 must contain all elements necessary to constitute a valid, specific offer capable of forming a binding contract upon acceptance, while complying with SII invoicing requirements and relevant sector regulations.

Supplier (Oferente) Identification: Full legal name, RUT (Rol Único Tributario assigned by the SII), commercial address (domicilio comercial), telephone, email, and name of the authorized representative. The supplier's RUT must match the one used for SII electronic invoicing (factura electrónica), and VAT-registered suppliers (contribuyentes de IVA bajo DL 825) must confirm their IVA registration status in the offer. For regulated suppliers — construction contractors registered with the SIAC (Sistema de Información y Atención Ciudadana del MOP), pharmaceutical importers registered with ISP, or food companies certified by ACHIPIA — the relevant professional or regulatory registration number should be stated.

Client (Destinatario) Identification: Full legal name, RUT, address, and contact details of the recipient. For public-sector clients, the procurement unit (Unidad de Compra) reference and Chile Compra licitación number must be included to ensure the offer is properly linked to the public procurement record on www.mercadopublico.cl.

Description of Goods or Services: Precise, unambiguous description of the subject matter — product technical specifications (normas técnicas), service scope (alcance del servicio), delivery location (lugar de entrega), and for professional services, the professional qualifications and team composition. The description must be specific enough to constitute a defined object (objeto determinado o determinable) under Código Civil Article 1461, which requires the object of a contract to be commercially identifiable.

Price and Tax Breakdown: Clear statement of the unit price (precio unitario), total price (precio total), and whether prices are expressed net (neto, sin IVA) or gross (con IVA incluido at 19% per DL 825). For multi-currency quotations involving foreign suppliers or cross-border services, prices should be stated in both the agreed foreign currency and CLP equivalent at the Dólar Observado published daily by the Banco Central de Chile. UF-denominated pricing (using the Unidad de Fomento updated daily by the SII) is recommended for construction services and multi-month engagements to preserve real value against CLP inflation.

Payment Terms: Payment schedule (30, 60, or 90 days net; advance payment percentage; progress payments linked to milestones), accepted payment methods (transferencia electrónica, cheque, pago mediante plataforma Transbank or MercadoPago for B2C), and late payment interest calculated at the tasa de interés máxima convencional published monthly by the CMF under Ley 18.010. For public-sector clients, payment terms are governed by Ley 19.886 Article 79, which establishes a maximum 30-day payment period from invoice submission.

Delivery or Performance Timeline: Specific delivery date or service commencement/completion schedule, delivery method (incoterms for goods supply in cross-border transactions; lugar de entrega and responsabilidades de flete y seguro for domestic supply), and consequences of delay — typically interest at the tasa máxima convencional and the client's right to obtain substitute supply at the supplier's expense under Código Civil Article 1555.

Validity Period: The period during which the offer remains open for acceptance (plazo de vigencia de la oferta) — Código de Comercio Article 97 requires offers to state their validity or they become subject to the presumed reasonable time of Articles 97–108. Commercial quotations in Chile typically carry validity periods of 15 to 30 days for standard goods, 30 to 60 days for construction or professional services, and 90 to 180 days for complex technology or infrastructure projects where pricing is materially affected by raw material costs or exchange rates.

Warranty and After-Sales Terms: For goods, the statutory warranty (garantía legal) under Ley 19.496 (Ley de Protección al Consumidor, administered by SERNAC) of at least three months for new products and 90 days for used products sold to consumers, plus any extended commercial warranty offered. For B2B transactions above the consumer threshold, warranty terms are freely negotiable under Código Civil Article 1545. For construction services, the mandatory structural warranty (garantía de obra) of five years under the Código Civil Article 2003 No. 3 must be acknowledged in the quotation.

Dispute Resolution and Governing Law: Chilean law (Código Civil and Código de Comercio), with disputes submitted to the Juzgados de Letras en lo Civil or arbitration before the Centro de Arbitraje y Mediación de Santiago (CAM Santiago). For B2C quotations, SERNAC's mediation service under Ley 19.496 Article 58 is available to consumer-buyers. Forms-legal.com provides this Commercial Offer Chile template to help Chilean businesses create legally compliant, professional quotations. Every significant commercial offer should be reviewed by a licensed Abogado or contador-auditor for SII compliance, particularly regarding IVA treatment, transfer-pricing rules for related-party transactions, and sector-specific regulatory requirements. Los usuarios de forms-legal.com pueden descargar este documento de forma gratuita en formato PDF o DOCX, completar los campos del formulario guiado y obtener un documento listo para firma.