20% Surcharge For Travel

[LostinBA]

How very Argentine this is...These amateurs pass laws without proper debate nor planning leaving everyone confused. Are they so blinded by ideology that they can't see that they're already limping? So why grab the shogun and shoot yourself in the other foot?

So as a non-resident, if I buy a package in person (in pesos) for domestic and/or international travel, will I have to pay this extra 20%? How do they know if my pesos are official or blue? If they are official pesos, then they've just robbed me of an extra 20% that realistically I'm never getting back. They're stealing...there's no mystery here. It's Argentina and cheating, stealing and lying (if you can get away with it) is culturally accepted.

Can we ask Francisco to intervene or will he be too busy with the Malvinas...oops, I mean Falklands.

 

[cbonanni]

I bought mine today . No problems. Arg cc , 3 quotas .....

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

Both cases YES...! IMHO j
The pesos must be converted to Dollars by despegar.com, that have to be sent to the service provider in Mexico or UK.

If you use Argentine Dollars you pay surcharge.( If you Play you Pay)

As a permanent resident, all pesos earned in country?

 

[Rich One]

As a permanent resident, all pesos earned in country?

Yes,

 

[Rich One]

I bought mine today . No problems. Arg cc , 3 quotas .....

An international ticket or service? you paid the 20 % surcharge? you are a resident ? if you didn't please provide the agency address

 

[sivan]

the surcharge might not get charged straight away. when i went to the states last year the 15% surcharge from things that i bought on my CC while i was there only showed up 2 months later.

 

[sivan]

No good will came to you doing this, pay on your Argentine Credit it still 30% cheaper than using your american credit card as when you use your cc from america you pay dollars and in the other way you pay in pesos + 20%, so you are better off selling dollars at blue rate and pay all in pesos in your CC, and if you have residency ask for the 20% return on the end of the year in your declaracion jurada is much easier than people tend to think.

Lamarque - i dont think that you understood what i was saying. Firstly I am NOT american. I am south african and my Dad would be using his South African credit card to pay for the ticket. Why would he incur any additional charges?? Secondly I LIVE here with my argentine husband so i do NOT have any dollars to sell!!!! We applied for the 15% return from when i went to the states last year - still waiting to see whether we get it back or not!

 

[syngirl]

As far as I have been able to determine, the 20% is applied to all tickets purchsed in cash, credit or debit for all methods of travel (buquebus, micro, plane, donkey etc.) for all passages that originate inside the borders of Argentina with destination outside the country. Doesn't matter if you are going to Bolivia on the micro, Hong Kong on a plane, or Uruguay on a buquebus, when you purchase the ticket -- via despegar, another online agency, from a travel agent, or at the buquebus/omnibus terminals, 20% is charged to you. This will apply to all Argentine citizens and residents, but from everything I have read I have not been able to clarify whether it will apply to foreigners -- it won't say if they show up in Buenos Aires and decide to buy a ticket to Iguazu or Mendoza, because those are inside the borders of Argentina. However, if they want to buy a bus ticket to Santiago de Chile? Not sure -- haven't been able to find anything that details this. However it does seem to have been put in place to stop Uruguayans that were supposedly coming in large numbers and buying tickets in cash after converting dollars to end up with a nice discounted price vs buying in Uruguay .(I find it hard to believe this to be true, since aren't there only like 3million Uruguayans in total? How many could actually have been doing this?) As far as using credit/debit to purchase online -- if it is an Argentine-issued card, you will be charged the 20%, if it is a foreign card, I haven't yet read anything that says for sure.

 

[Splitty]

Listen people, AFIP want their cut to make up for the imaginary "official rate". Sell your USD at cuevas and pay in pesos, it is not hard to figure out.
20% applies to everyone
I would not use my credit card, just pay in cash and then AFIP will not be looking at your credit card statement.!!

 

[syngirl]

Sivan -- same thing, I have yet to be able to find anything that applies to foreign cards, am trying to find something concrete, with luck your Dad would have no extra charges, but as you said, then how do you pay him back anyway? You're going to get dinged somewhere along the way! The govt wouldn't have it any other way!? grrrrrrrrr