Amazon is coming to town...

[LuckyLuke]

For those of you who didn't see the news today...

El Ejecutivo eliminó impuestos para las compras online en el exterior y aumentó el límite a US$3000 por envío | TN

El vocero presidencial, Manuel Adorni, dijo que la medida empezará a regir en diciembre. El ministro de Economía, Luis Caputo, explicó: “Queremos que todos puedan acceder a precios más competitivos, no solo los que tienen la oportunidad de viajar”.

tn.com.ar

If this is accurate, opening up Amazon to Argentina import tax free has huge implications for previously protected sectors, purchase runs to Chile, regional store advantages along the Cordillera (Mendoza) and the future of retail commerce in Argentina. It could cause a purchase boom in some sectors (e.g. clothing, electronics), and redistribute labor from textile factories to store fronts.

Those who are saavy enough to navigate this beta run of Amazon here may fare quite well in pop up stores until your average joe crunches the margins and goes direct to Amazon himself.

One thing is for certain, prices across many import categories are set to drop in the face of previously untested competition. Those stores who are already carrying a lot of electronics inventory may be caught on the wrong side of this.

 

[nik.dj808]

I've never imported anything before because I heard horror stories on this forum... so curious to know, will not having a DNI affect my ability to use this and avoid the tax under $400? Will it still be a bureaucratic nightmare to retrieve my package or do I just use DHL?

 

[carride]

The official publication
The limit for purchases abroad for international shipments is raised to $3,000

I do not understand the difference between the door-to-door post office restrictions and courier services. So you can do Amazon and AliExpress?

This measure does not affect imports under the "door-to-door" mail regime, operated by official Post Offices, for which changes will be announced in the coming weeks.

 

[dlish]

Is the $3000 limit per purchase or per person per year?

 

[LuckyLuke]

Is the $3000 limit per purchase or per person per year?

It says "por envio", which seems to imply per shipment request. That's an enormous amount if it's true. Hard to imagine there not being a purchase ceiling. We'll see with time.

 

[FrankPintor]

Is this $3000 per shipment applicable now?

The reporting here often indicates that such and such has been changed, when in reality it’s just a government wish that needs to pass various committees and both houses of parliament to actually become law.

 

[Ries]

Color me dubious. We have heard this kind of thing is coming for as long as I can remember- over ten years.
But as far as I know, beyond announcing a plan to cut the import duty in half sometime in December, or maybe later, and now, announcing this- nothing has changed.
Milei is really good at announcing.
Actually following thru, less so.
Interesting quote from the article- " Along with the Secretary of Commerce and Industry, Pablo Lavigne , Adorni said, as an example, that a jacket that costs 100 dollars abroad, today pays 67 dollars in taxes. With this measure, it will now pay 21 dollars."

Where, exactly, are you going to be paying that 21 dollars? My guess is that its still going down to the correo, waiting in line, and dealing with employees who havent been told how or what to do differently.
And 21% added tax is still not "import tax free".

currently an iphone 16 with 128gig is right around $1000 on amazons website in the USA. And its 2,555,546 pesos on Mercado Libre today. Which is less than 3000 dollars...
When somebody actually succeeds in buying one from Amazon for a grand, delivered to BA, I will believe more in "announcements".

 

[LuckyLuke]

Color me dubious. We have heard this kind of thing is coming for as long as I can remember- over ten years.
But as far as I know, beyond announcing a plan to cut the import duty in half sometime in December, or maybe later, and now, announcing this- nothing has changed.
Milei is really good at announcing.
Actually following thru, less so.
Interesting quote from the article- " Along with the Secretary of Commerce and Industry, Pablo Lavigne , Adorni said, as an example, that a jacket that costs 100 dollars abroad, today pays 67 dollars in taxes. With this measure, it will now pay 21 dollars."

Where, exactly, are you going to be paying that 21 dollars? My guess is that its still going down to the correo, waiting in line, and dealing with employees who havent been told how or what to do differently.
And 21% added tax is still not "import tax free".

currently an iphone 16 with 128gig is right around $1000 on amazons website in the USA. And its 2,555,546 pesos on Mercado Libre today. Which is less than 3000 dollars...
When somebody actually succeeds in buying one from Amazon for a grand, delivered to BA, I will believe more in "announcements".

I agree, there's still a lot of unanswered questions....namely where is everyone supposed to get the dollars to make these purchases?

Paying 50% over blue for dolar tarjeta is still a de facto tax. It's a step in the right direction, but unless Jeff Bezos has a need for a bunch of pesos I can't see the BCRA suddenly able to send such vast amounts of precious dollars to the US.

 

[Rich One]

Color me dubious. We have heard this kind of thing is coming for as long as I can remember- over ten years.
But as far as I know, beyond announcing a plan to cut the import duty in half sometime in December, or maybe later, and now, announcing this- nothing has changed.
Milei is really good at announcing.
Actually following thru, less so.
Interesting quote from the article- " Along with the Secretary of Commerce and Industry, Pablo Lavigne , Adorni said, as an example, that a jacket that costs 100 dollars abroad, today pays 67 dollars in taxes. With this measure, it will now pay 21 dollars."

Where, exactly, are you going to be paying that 21 dollars? My guess is that its still going down to the correo, waiting in line, and dealing with employees who havent been told how or what to do differently.
And 21% added tax is still not "import tax free".

currently an iphone 16 with 128gig is right around $1000 on amazons website in the USA. And its 2,555,546 pesos on Mercado Libre today. Which is less than 3000 dollars...
When somebody actually succeeds in buying one from Amazon for a grand, delivered to BA, I will believe more in "announcements".

Importar notebooks, iPhone y herramientas a mitad de precio: se paga en pesos y a dólar oficial - Aerobox Argentina

aerobox.com.ar

 

[Ries]

Importar notebooks, iPhone y herramientas a mitad de precio: se paga en pesos y a dólar oficial - Aerobox Argentina

aerobox.com.ar

this article kind of dances around legality, tax rates and who pays them, and in short, is probably describing services that are quasi legal at best right now. Maybe they work, maybe they dont. No mention of how much more you pay than the intitial Amazon price.
But aerobox, for instance, is nothing like the pie in the sky idea of being able to order on Amazon, and pay shipping only, and get home delivery.
I bring things myself, occasionally have a friend bring something in checked luggage, and buy industria argentina. Between the three, you can do most things.
But none of those things, or the aerobox in the article, is what Milei is promising, but not delivering, which is a free market without taxes, customs and correo fees, and direct home delivery.
We shall see what we shall see, but I am not holding my breath.