Business and bureaucracy

[citygirl]

To the OP:
It really depends on what your business is. What type of company will you set up? Will you be delivering services or tangible goods? Will you be "local" - aka will your business be doing business here in Argentina. Will you be doing things en blanco or en negro?

FWIW - I set up an SRL here about 8 months ago (which is affiliated with the parent company I work for in the US). The actual set up took less time (although cost more than we anticipated) and we were fully operational in under 2 months. A good accountant is a MUST. The rules here change all the time and there is a lot of paperwork involved in everything - the accountant should take care of that. Dealing with the banks here has been a NIGHTMARE - and we're a global company. Much of that however may be due to the fact that a) everything I do is en blanco and b) we're dealing with international funds.

Plusses:
Work force - there is a highly-educated and hard-working employee base
Work product - we get phenomenal results from my team here (I have teams in 5 different countries and my Argentina team is consistently best in class and my client loves them)
Timings - if you are delivering int'l services - you are near-shore to US and even Europe is doable.
Salary Cost - your salary costs will be substantially lower than what you pay for similar positions in most fully developed countries.

Minuses:
Paperwork - there is A LOT of it and the rules change constantly.
Work Force - hiring the right people is *very*, *very* important. Some people here will game the system and guess what, laws here are very employee-friendly so as an employer, if they want to screw you, they can and will.
Banking System - mentioned above but in my experience, it's been a nightmare dealing with banks here.
Costs of Doing Business - it's not cheap. While your salary costs may be low, everything else is high. Once you get done paying the mandatory impuestos, the VAT, the corp income tax, your accountant, etc, etc - your profit margin isn't exactly going to be stellar

I assume you know you have to be a resident to have a business here or have a partner that is.

Feel free to PM me if you want to talk further - while my experiences may or may not be relevant to your business idea, I can share what I/my company went through.

There are reasons to do it here and I wouldn't say NO like some posters will but I will say make sure you do all your homework and understand exactly what you are getting into.

 

[schef4711]

I assume you know you have to be a resident to have a business here or have a partner that is.

that is wrong I have set up a S.R.L. (without a local resident) in 2008 to get my own temporary residence. Surely this was not an easy and more time intensive way but possible and true. The hardest part was to get my C.U.I.T. but I have got it @ AFIP as a "tourist"

 

[citygirl]

that is wrong I have set up a S.R.L. (without a local resident) in 2008 to get my own temporary residence. Surely this was not an easy and more time intensive way but possible and true. The hardest part was to get my C.U.I.T. but I have got it @ AFIP as a "tourist"

Okay - that directly contradicts everything I know from my lawyers which is that the majority of the board of directors must be residents of Argentina. So I'm not sure how you set up a company as a non-resident without a resident partner but again, its Argentina so anything is possible.

 

[steveinbsas]

that is wrong I have set up a S.R.L. (without a local resident) in 2008 to get my own temporary residence. Surely this was not an easy and more time intensive way but possible and true. The hardest part was to get my C.U.I.T. but I have got it @ AFIP as a "tourist"

Once anyone has "temporary residenc(y)" (even before obtaining a DNI) they are no longer a "tourist", and then it should be possible to get a CUIT. The one thing that makes if a bit problematic without a DNI is that the CUIT actually includes the DNI (once you have one).

 

[schef4711]

@citygirl : everybody can set up a company here in Argentina but surely with an resident it is much easier I.G.J. don't have any problem with this and it is totalmente legal to create it without any local resident. The big problem is that the manager (socio gerente) must have a valid CUIT to be able to do the "Inscripcion de Sociedades" en AFIP otherwise AFIP will not accept that tramite. Without that you don't will receive the CUIT for the SRL from AFIP, and so on.

@steveinbsas : sure but as in my as "socio gerente" I was only able to initiate for the temporary residence after finishing setting up the SRL. But it is like a law that will run in a circle

 

[Attorney in BA]

@citygirl : everybody can set up a company here in Argentina but surely with an resident it is much easier I.G.J. don't have any problem with this and it is totalmente legal to create it without any local resident.

This is inexact. Argentine commercial companies law specifically states that the majority of the board must be a resident in Argentina. Although it is true that when you register the company at IGJ they will not check this, it does not mean it is legal.

 

[katti]

To the OP:
It really depends on what your business is. What type of company will you set up? Will you be delivering services or tangible goods? Will you be "local" - aka will your business be doing business here in Argentina. Will you be doing things en blanco or en negro?

FWIW - I set up an SRL here about 8 months ago (which is affiliated with the parent company I work for in the US). The actual set up took less time (although cost more than we anticipated) and we were fully operational in under 2 months. A good accountant is a MUST. The rules here change all the time and there is a lot of paperwork involved in everything - the accountant should take care of that. Dealing with the banks here has been a NIGHTMARE - and we're a global company. Much of that however may be due to the fact that a) everything I do is en blanco and b) we're dealing with international funds.

Plusses:
Work force - there is a highly-educated and hard-working employee base
Work product - we get phenomenal results from my team here (I have teams in 5 different countries and my Argentina team is consistently best in class and my client loves them)
Timings - if you are delivering int'l services - you are near-shore to US and even Europe is doable.
Salary Cost - your salary costs will be substantially lower than what you pay for similar positions in most fully developed countries.

Minuses:
Paperwork - there is A LOT of it and the rules change constantly.
Work Force - hiring the right people is *very*, *very* important. Some people here will game the system and guess what, laws here are very employee-friendly so as an employer, if they want to screw you, they can and will.
Banking System - mentioned above but in my experience, it's been a nightmare dealing with banks here.
Costs of Doing Business - it's not cheap. While your salary costs may be low, everything else is high. Once you get done paying the mandatory impuestos, the VAT, the corp income tax, your accountant, etc, etc - your profit margin isn't exactly going to be stellar

I assume you know you have to be a resident to have a business here or have a partner that is.

Feel free to PM me if you want to talk further - while my experiences may or may not be relevant to your business idea, I can share what I/my company went through.

There are reasons to do it here and I wouldn't say NO like some posters will but I will say make sure you do all your homework and understand exactly what you are getting into.

This is all correct. The starting up of the company is not so hard (providing you have help). The constant paperwork takes a lot of time and is almost a part time job. A lot of waiting in line...

A problem we have faced here in Argentina is that it is not so much the price or the product that is the most important but the personal contact. The Argentine companies prefer to work with Argentines, unless you have the recommendations of (the right) people (not necessarily 'important' people). It took my husband and his socio about 2 years to finally get into the Argentine market (fortunately the rest of Latin America was a lot easier), but now it is like a domino, competitors talk to another 'can they be trusted' and the ball starts rolling. If you don't speak Spanish you can forget it.

My husband could not set up the company without an Argentine Socio.

Taxwise the Argentine company is not very interesting.

I wish you good luck!