The inheritance tax return in Venezuela: deadline, steps, costs and fines

Article 27 of the Inheritance Tax Law gives 180 days from the opening of the estate, which is the date of death. Since the law does not say they are consecutive days, the Organic Tax Code counts them as working days. On the calendar that is about eight to nine months.

If the inventory of assets is complicated or there is an insurmountable obstacle, article 33 allows you to ask SENIAT for an extraordinary extension. It has to be requested before the 180 days run out, in writing and with the reasons.

1. 1Register the estate’s RIF on the portal and lodge the RIF documents.
2. 2Log in to SENIAT online with the estate’s username and password.
3. 3Go to the taxpayer menu, then tax processes, then inheritance.
4. 4Check the details of the deceased and the heirs, choose the type of inheritance (by will, without a will, or with benefit of inventory) and record the extension if you were granted one.
5. 5Enter properties, movable assets, debts, allowances such as the main home, and exemptions.
6. 6In the summary, assign each heir’s share. The system calculates the tax.
7. 7File, print two copies of the return and the payment forms, and pay. If you file on time you can pay in up to four instalments.
8. 8Lodge the originals at the SENIAT office within the next five working days.

The tax is calculated on each heir’s net share, in tax units, at a progressive rate that depends on the relationship. For parents, children and spouse:

• The tax unit (unidad tributaria) has been worth 43 bolívares since 2 June 2025.
• A share of 75 T.U. or less received by a parent, a child or the spouse is exempt (article 8).
• The deceased’s main home is left out of the taxable base when it passes to parents, children or spouse (article 10). On the portal it is entered as an allowance.

• Late-payment interest is added.
• You lose the option of paying in instalments.
• The inherited assets are bound to the payment of the tax and the fines (article 50).
• Without the clearance certificate, no sale of any inherited property can be registered (article 51).

Every heir needs a current RIF to register the estate. Someone living abroad can act through a special power of attorney granted at a Venezuelan consulate or before a local notary with an apostille. It is worth making the power cover both stages: the SENIAT procedure and the sale at the registry. How to word it is in the guide to the special power of attorney.

When the tax is paid, or the inheritance turns out to be exempt, SENIAT issues the clearance certificate (certificado de solvencia, article 45). Article 51 forbids registrars, judges and notaries from recording any sale of an inherited asset without that certificate.

With the certificate in hand, the rest of the sale follows: update the cadastral certificate to the estate’s name, ask for the municipal tax clearance and book the registry appointment. The full order is in the guide to selling.