The Dominican Congress recently approved a bill that would allow retirees from overseas to obtain permanent residency status in the Dominican Republic within 45 days, provided they meet a minimum income of $1500 US, for retirees with a government or private pension, and $2000 in verified income, from all other applicants.

The bill was introduced in Congress with the intention of better positioning the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean’s second-home market, a real estate sector which has been experiencing a significant increase with the mass retirement of tens of thousands of baby boomers in the US and abroad.

The new law, still awaiting enactment by the Executive, also provides for:

(a) Exemption on duty for importation of household goods

(b) Reduction on duty for the importation of a motor vehicle

(c) Exemption on transfer taxes for the first purchase of real estate

(d) 50% reduction on taxes on mortgages

(e) 50% reduction on the annual property tax

(f) Exemption on taxes on dividends and interest