Expat Property Owners Losing Ability To Repatriate Dollars

[GS_Dirtboy]

Hey everyone,

Not great news from the expat real estate market. AFIP has been implementing new restrictions on expat property sales. You may know that expats (non-residents) have been able to sell their properties (purchased before the CEPO) and then have the sale Dollars sent to their account overseas through legal, official channels (AFIP / Central Bank / BoNY). AFIP now appears to be limiting that option. We have been warning our clients of this possibility for over a year now. Fortunately, many took our advice and have already sold and gotten their Dollars out of Argentina.

If the repatriation option goes away then the only way expats will be able to sell is to get paid in physical Dollars here and then send the money out through a cueva. Or, the expat seller can get paid in physical Dollars outside of Argentina. This second option is still legal as of now. However, these options have significant costs, and risks, to the buyer and the seller. The result is a lower price for expat property sales.

We do know some of the restrictions but AFIP has promised more information, and restrictions, next week.

GS

 

[nikad]

How is the option being limited currently GS_Dirtboy? They are not approving most sales or?

 

[nkotb]

Hey everyone,

Not great news from the expat real estate market. AFIP has been implementing new restrictions on expat property sales. You may know that expats (non-residents) have been able to sell their properties (purchased before the CEPO) and then have the sale Dollars sent to their account overseas through legal, official channels (AFIP / Central Bank / BoNY). AFIP now appears to be limiting that option. We have been warning our clients of this possibility for over a year now. Fortunately, many took our advice and have already sold and gotten their Dollars out of Argentina.

If the repatriation option goes away then the only way expats will be able to sell is to get paid in physical Dollars here and then send the money out through a cueva. Or, the expat seller can get paid in physical Dollars outside of Argentina. This second option is still legal as of now. However, these options have significant costs, and risks, to the buyer and the seller. The result is a lower price for expat property sales.

We do know some of the restrictions but AFIP has promised more information, and restrictions, next week.

GS

When you say "the result is a lower price for expat property sales," are you describing an observed trend or an anticipated one? Don't get me wrong, it would be totally logical for prices to fall in these circumstances, but the real estate market here is not entirely logical. Prices in dollars have not come down much during the cepo, although the number of transactions has. This is consistent with both buyers and sellers waiting for better times. Is this changing?

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

AFIP has been slowly reducing the total value allowed for repatriation. As the government gets more and more desperate for Dollars we expect the allowed amount to reduce even further.

The lower price for non-resident properties is an observed result. If it costs both the buyer and seller more to complete the resident sale than non-resident sale then the result is a lower net sale value for the resident sale.

Actual sale prices have come down since the CEPO by about 20% (except for non-residents). Asking prices have stayed about the same.

 

[lucha54]

Lucky mariposa got out in time.

 

[nikad]

AFIP has been slowly reducing the total value allowed for repatriation. As the government gets more and more desperate for Dollars we expect the allowed amount to reduce even further.

The lower price for non-resident properties is an observed result. If it costs both the buyer and seller more to complete the resident sale than non-resident sale then the result is a lower net sale value for the resident sale.

Actual sale prices have come down since the CEPO by about 20% (except for non-residents). Asking prices have stayed about the same.

Do you know what the current total value for repatriation is? or how it is measured?

 

[Ries]

Thats ok, I plan on continuing to use my departmento til I am old and senile, and then my kids will have to deal with this.
Serves the little buggers right, after all those diapers I changed.

Also, you are leaving out several options- like getting paid in cash dollars, and carrying them on your person on the airplane, and just declaring em when you land in your home country.
Or, getting paid in pesos, and buying something else with them- a container full of wine, say, or a diamond ring, or a share in a profitable business, or a sailboat, and sailing off into the sunset.

Or, maybe having all your teeth pulled, replaced with solid gold, and then taking the Buquebus to Colonia, with your vast fortune safe inside your own mouth.

Collectible comic books?
Rare Spinetta albums?
A complete Gaucho costume, replete with hand chased silver everything, including boot tips, key chain fob, massive belt buckle, concho pants, and engraved codpiece? Just tell em you are an Antonio Banderas impersonator.

The possibilities are manifold.
Human ingenuity is limitless.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

Do you know what the current total value for repatriation is? or how it is measured?

This depends upon several factors. PM me.

 

[ghost]

There are places where you can go and your money will be wired out of country and into your favorite off shore or home account. It will cost you 3 to 6% or maybe more if things get worse. [I haven't done this a year so maybe things are already worse] But at the end of the day it can be a damn painful way to keep what is yours.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

Two things happened last Friday. First, the Central Bank announced it would no longer process repatriations for non-resident owners over the amount of U$300.000. The second thing that the Central Bank announced was that it would require proof from the seller of legal transfer of funds into Argentina for the original purchase. If the seller did not bring the purchase funds into Argentina through a legal transaction then the seller will not be able to repatriate their Dollars.

The applicable law is Com. A5649.

Moving toward First-World rules, step by step.