have you ever heard of them checking how much money you take out at Ezeiza?

[hannstew]

I went thru last week and there were no sniffing dogs, no pat downs, just the normal bag scan before customs.

 

[chris]

My concern was IS IT LEGAL to carry $10,000 USD or LESS out of the country without dealing with the AFIP. My understanding is that it IS legal. If I am wrong, please correct me.

 

[nikad]

My concern was IS IT LEGAL to carry $10,000 USD or LESS out of the country without dealing with the AFIP. My understanding is that it IS legal. If I am wrong, please correct me.

Less than 10k is absolutely legal and u do not need to declare anything.

 

[davonz]

My concern was IS IT LEGAL to carry $10,000 USD or LESS out of the country without dealing with the AFIP. My understanding is that it IS legal. If I am wrong, please correct me.

There is nothing on the exit card relating to money or anything else. So you dont have to declare it.
Its when bring money in that you are asked on the arrival declaration form if you have more than US$10k, what make of cell phone you have etc. There is nothing on the exit card relating to money or anything else.

However i do know that NZ has a cash reporting bit on their departure card, which states that if you have more than any currency of NZ$10k you must report it to the customs officer.

 

[starlucia]

My concern was IS IT LEGAL to carry $10,000 USD or LESS out of the country without dealing with the AFIP. My understanding is that it IS legal. If I am wrong, please correct me.

Of course. It says so right on the Argentina Customs website.

 

[earlyretirement]

The people that are getting arrested are people that have never paid taxes or declared these assets/income.

I've carried well over $10,000 several times out of Argentina including a few months ago. I've never had any issues or problems.

But this money was all "white" and received when I sold assets in Argentina. (Car, apartment, etc). I was paying all taxes the entire time I owned these assets and also paid the correct taxes when I sold the assets (stamp taxes, transfer taxes, etc).

If I ever was stopped, I would have just showed the paperwork on this money. Keep in mind you DO have to legally declare any amounts over $10,000 US when you enter the USA. On the USA side as long as the funds are legal you can enter with it.

HOWEVER keep in mind that carrying over $10,000 and declaring it at customs is an almost red flag to get audited by the IRS. So it's not worth the hassle. I agree to just pay the 5%/6% to one of these reputable firms to wire it out.

I will say that it doesn't take up much room to carry up to around $80,000 US. A $10,000 "brick" of $100 bills doesn't take up much room. I never put it in a bag. I just carried it on me. You can have a good pair of socks and put 2 $10,000 bricks on each side of your socks on each leg. This is $40,000. Then you can fit another $10,000 in each of your pants pockets and if you have a long jacket to cover your pockets you wouldn't have problems. I've NEVER had problems with this or set off any metal detectors carrying this much cash.

But I have been audited 3 times in 6 years so keep that in mind. It's a major hassle to get audited by the IRS.

 

[jacklewis]

thank you everyone for your thoughtful responses!

 

[surfing]

How many times must it be said that carrying up to US $10,000 is perfectly legal? I'm sure someone else will ask again tomorrow!