Do I need a Real Estate Agent or just an Escribano?

[earlyretirement]

Absolutely selling an apartment as a non-resident can be a nightmare as some mentioned. It makes a HUGE difference when you have a DNI. AFIP has become a nightmare with this non-resident permit!

It helps when you follow all the laws and pay all taxes. Rental taxes (21% of all rentals plus all asset and ABL taxes). If you do, the process isn't as complicated but even when you follow ALL laws and pay ALL taxes, AFIP can still screw you.

I have a friend that sold his property a few months ago and he paid 100% of ALL rental taxes. He rented it out short-term and the company forced him to pay all taxes for the years he owned his property. He paid every ABL tax on time, he paid every asset bill on time.

He was a non-resident so he had to hire an accountant to sell. Get this.. AFIP still screwed him as they said he didn't pay the 21% tax for a few months while he owned it. (He owned it 3 years).

He had several friends that he allowed to use his property periodically. He never charged anything to his friends when they used his property. AFIP simply said he paid rental taxes for all the other months so he should be paying taxes on the months he didn't declare (how is that logic for you!).

It's no wonder that people don't pay their fair share of all taxes in Argentina when you see things like this. He wasn't granted the permit without paying thousands of pesos in "taxes" that he never had income on.

Keep in mind you can NOT sell as a foreigner without this permit.... so you have to pay it or they won't grant it. And I heard it's getting worse at AFIP so keep this in mind and have a very good accountant when you have to get the permit.

On the other end of the spectrum....I know an American in Asia and he owned a property in San Telmo for over 10 years. He never paid any rental taxes on it and he didn't pay any asset taxes either as he never knew there was one. He was going to have to pay a fortune to get the permit. He had an old DNI from many years ago when he lived and worked in Buenos Aires. He got permanent residency but hadn't lived in Argentina for over 6 years. Long story short...he got out of paying ALL taxes and didn't have to get a permit...all because he had a DNI.

System is totally screwed in Argentina.

 

[earlyretirement]

Also, it's not so much the taxes where AFIP gets you. It's the penalties and interest for the most part. The only legal taxes you have as the seller in Buenos Aires when you sell is typically splitting the stamp tax of 2.5% which is 1.25% each for the buyer and seller and then the 1.5% transfer tax.

If you are up to date on all your rental taxes then those are the only two legitimate taxes.

If you aren't up to date on your annual asset taxes, the penalties and interest are totally crazy. Something like 30% a year.

The biggest problem I have is AFIP assuming you have been renting it out even if you weren't. They ask you for EVERY page of your passport so you can't say you were staying in it. They also ask you for copies of your utility bills and water bills, phone bills, etc. So they can see the consumption.