Buying Property: Transfer Funds From/to Foreign Accounts?

[garryl]

They say you did it blue way because your money wasn't wired directly from your account abroad, so it didn't go through the Central Bank. The problem is that if you ever sell and want your money back out of the country the AFIP will want to see that money came here legitimately, and if you're still a non-resident when you sell, forget about it, you'll eat loads in taxes, significantly more than a resident, making it worthwhile to get your DNI before trying to sell. I don't know from your story if you can demonstrate that the money used was yours or not (ie you say the docs show you got the money from the bank, but will AFIP decide that's enough or will they want to trace further back?), and where was the origin of funds (ie you're not from HK, you weren't working here, how is it that the money turned up here magically -- the AFIP may want to know because they want their share of it in taxes). It is a common practice, yes, the problem is that in the past few years the AFIP has become much more strict about fining people upon the sale of the property if they decide they don't like how you got the money in the first place.

Thanks, syngirl. One of my friends just sold hers, and she is not a resident. Her apartment is small (1bed) and the price is under 200k US, her lawyer did a few common tricks for her to clean things up, so I think she paid 20-30k pesos, not much with blue rate, she was happy. Even with 100k pesos in penalty, it's still OK, you still survive if you can sell it for, say, 200k dollars ? Does that makes any sense syngirl ? when you say " you eat loads of taxes ", how much are we talking about ? It can not be half a million pesos for a one bedroom apartment in Recoleta ? yes, it would hurt me if it's half mil pesos, but It would be ok if the fine is 50k
pesos, no one is going to die. How much does a foreigner pay more than resident ? 2-3 times more ?


But some friend told me to sell before tax and fine get bigger, but some told me to relax, Argies have been doing this for a long time (evade tax). And who knows what will happen in the future, if pesos crashes, the fine will be even smaller. I am really not sure which direction to go, your input/insight will be welcome.

 

[franksredhots]

the game is meant to be sold, not told.

 

[Maxba]

In my experience it s still very well possible to sell in a complicated but normal way although each situation is different and probably has its own solution in most of the cases.

 

[mmoon]

I don't know the latest number, but I think non-residents pay around 30% of sales price in taxes to the government when they sell. Makes it well worth it, even if it's a nightmare, to get your DNI before you (try and) get your money out!

 

[steveinbsas]

I don't know the latest number, but I think non-residents pay around 30% of sales price in taxes to the government when they sell. Makes it well worth it, even if it's a nightmare, to get your DNI before you (try and) get your money out!

I've never read or heard anything about a 30% tax on the sale price of property sold by non-residents, but it is theoretically possible for unpaid taxes (and interest) on undeclared or assumed rents to add up to that much.

Based on what I've read from previous posts on this subject, a non-resident may be charged 30% of assumed rents when they sell. It also may be possible that they could be charged even more for not paying the taxes in a a timely manner (3% per month).. Perhaps other members can clarify this.

Unless the utility usage drops to near zero when the non-resident owner is out of Argentina, it is assumed that the property has been rented.

It doesn't matter if the property is being used rent free by friends or family.

AFIP will look at the owner's passport and utility bills to determine the tax liability. I am not sure how the exact amount is determined.

It's cheaper to actually have anyone staying in a non-resident's apartment sign a short term lease and pay about 20% tax (perhaps a bit more) when the owner is out of the country. The lease must be in Spanish to be legal and of the guest is a foreigner there should be a copy of the lease in that person's native language.

The best (and by far the cheapest) policy for non-residents is to keep accurate records and pay the appropriate taxes on any rental income in a timely manner.

The bottom line: It is much less a nightmare (and shouldn't be these days) to get a DNI that sell a property as a non-resident.

Until they started issuing the DNI automatically when residency was granted, getting one was indeed a nightmare.

Anyone who had to go the the old registro to apply for and get their DNI after being granted residency can attest to this.