Looking For Expat Tax Specialist/accountant

[annasmith]

Hola,

Can anyone recommend a good tax specialist/accountant in capital federal? I need help with the following situation: UK citizen working as a freelancer with all clients and income coming from the UK and paid in to a UK account. Now based in Argentina, with a permanent residency application currently being processed. At the moment registered as self-employed and paying taxes in the UK but assuming residency is approved here, UK tax authorities have said income tax should be paid in the country of residence.

So I'm looking for some professional help on how to do this here given invoices are in English and income is in British pounds. If anyone has experience of this and knows of a tax specialist or experienced accountant in capital federal I would be eternally grateful! Feel free to PM me if you prefer.

Muchísimas gracias

 

[Girino]

Your UK accountant is correct: you should pay taxes in the country where you reside, no matter where your clients are based or where you get the money.

However, the concept of fiscal residency can vary from country to country - for example, some countries consider you a resident if you are present in the country for more than half the year (183 days rule), others require you to register as a non-resident or at least to file one last tax return where you declare a change of address (stating an address abroad).

The important thing to note, is that each country has their definition of residency, and country A doesn't know you are living in country B by default. That's why you usually have to report to the fiscal authorities of country A that you are a resident for tax purposes of country B [this requirement vary from country to country].

So there are two possible scenarios:
1) You are a resident of either country A or country B
2) You are a resident of both country A and country B

In case 1) you need to file your taxes in the country where you reside (*with some exception, such as for US citizens/residents who are taxed on their worldwide income)
In case 2) you need to file taxes in both countries, specifying that you have already paid taxes in either country, and "compensate" taxes in the other country. This is regulated by tax treaties against double imposition between countries, and luckily the UK and Argentina have one in place.

As you can see, things are much more simpler if you are a resident of just one country.

As far as Argentina, taxes are much lower than in the UK, however receiving money in Argentina is a nightmare. I would suggest you to keep receiving money in the UK but to avoid issue with UK authority, make sure with your accountant to "close" your account position with the UK (or they will see money coming in on your account and no tax declaration filed) if necessary.

If paying taxes in Argentina, you should write your invoices in Spanish, but you can add the English translation, for that matters.

I can't help with an accountant in Argentina, but I am sure others will chime in! Good luck!

 

[nicoenarg]

You're "exporting services" to the UK according to the law here. Because of that, if you want to do everything legally then you have to issue invoices (as a monotributista, up to a certain annual limit) here that are given to you by AFIP. Whatever the amount on those invoices will have to be repatriated (within 30 days, I'm not sure if its within 30 days of invoice date or of payment) to a bank account here and it will be credited to your account in pesos according to the conversion rate on the date the invoice was issued since it is required that it go through the central bank. You are obviously free to convert it back to dollars/euros/pounds after you receive it in your account.

The brackets are such if your income does not fit within the limits of monotributista then you effectively will have to pay 35% income tax.

 

[annasmith]

Thank you Serafina and ElNico, really helpful feedback.

Is there really no way to be a monotributista here without the payment going through an Argentine bank account?

Also, where can I find the monotribtista tax brackets? I have found this webpage http://www.afip.gob.ar/monotributo/categorias.asp but the levels of tax seem very low! Am I looking in the right place/interpreting this correctly?!

It would be great to have the help of an accountant to work this out, so if any one out there can recommend someone, that really would be appreciated! Muchas gracias

 

[fcoulombe]

this is probably not the answer that you re looking for but there s also the option of opening a company in a low tax/low bureaucracy place and then fracturing minimum wage to your monotributista here to avoid 35% taxation but that seems like a project in itself and then you have to see what would be involved into bringing that money here to buy a house or something.

I dunno, a lot of people seem to talk about this but no one seems to have it all figured out.
Most argentines just advise you into not paying your taxes since it would feed corruption.

It's probably feasible to do it "the right way" if you re ready to put the effort in but it feels like even the people at afip will look at you with a "you're doing what...?" Look on their face.

Good luck

 

[Girino]

Also, where can I find the monotribtista tax brackets? I have found this webpage http://www.afip.gob..../categorias.asp but the levels of tax seem very low! Am I looking in the right place/interpreting this correctly?!

You are looking at the right place, and - indeed - for most freelancers from the Western world these brackets are very (and possibly too) low.

I don't know what your business is, but assuming you are providing services (servicios) and not goods (bienes), the higher income bracket would be Categoria I - Hasta $ 400.000 gross per year (€24,183 or £20,924 or U$D27,262 as of today). If you are a freelancer from the UK living solely out of this freelancing business, my guess is that £20k wouldn't be enough to live in the UK and you are earning more than this figure.

Maybe at this point it would be easier to keep your fiscal position open in the UK and pay taxes there, so that you can keep receiving money in the UK "en blanco" and as far as Argentina.... you can either ignore it totally or register as a monotributo Cat. B (the lowest) to have some sort of "cover" but never issuing an invoice to foreign clients (since this would mean to reempatriate the money). Use the monotributo for Argentinian clients, only. Basically, living a double fiscal life.

I am just brainstorming, this is not professional advice.

 

[Rasetti]

Hi Anita100,

My situation is very similar to yours, except that I export services to New Zealand. I'm not an accountant, so this information is not professional advise, just sharing the advise I've been given by accountants and my personal research and experience.

I use "AFIP's factura electronica E", which can be generated in English and, in your case, GBP.

The new timeframe for bringing the funds into Argentina, since July this year, is 365 days from the day you get paid: www.bcra.gov.ar/Pdfs/SistemasFinancierosYdePagos/ultimocomunicado2016.pdf
Also you can now transfer directly into a local USD account, avoiding the conversion to pesos.

If you can't keep below the 400000 pesos threshold, keep in mind that even as "responsable inscripto", when exporting a service you are exempt from charging IVA, so that might offset somehow some of the costs of paying ganancias. For example, instead of charging 100 + IVA (121), you can charge 115, basically splitting "ganancias" between you and the client.

In my case, it was a no-brainer to pay taxes here instead of in New Zealand, but given that UK has a tax agreement with Argentina your situation could be different.

As others said, your immigration status is not necessarily related to your tax status.

 

[fcoulombe]

I've heard recently that it's possible to earn money in $ and keep it in $ at the bank.
Finding someone who's done it to confirm is a bit harder.
It's really a matter of going to the bank/afip and seeing what they say about it.

 

[Girino]

I've heard recently that it's possible to earn money in $ and keep it in $ at the bank.
Finding someone who's done it to confirm is a bit harder.
It's really a matter of going to the bank/afip and seeing what they say about it.

Exactly. There is a big difference between what is said it is possible to do and the actual experiences reported (search this forum for topics about "transfer funds into Argentina"). Also, do not underestimate the bank's fees for such transaction(s) and take into account that there might be intermediary fees involved of which neither your source bank nor your local bank are aware of.

I have lost count of the times I was told "We do not charge to receive/send money" and then something was always missing, at that point it was all "there must have been charges from the other's bank intermediary, we can't foresee these costs" etc. and the other bank will say the same and you will end up with less money and they will walk out harmless from this.
Also consider if you are going to stay here in the long run and you are likely to spend that money here, or if you are going to export that money again once you move away from Argentina.

There is so much practical hassle to make Argentina unwelcoming to business owners that it overshadows the low taxation.

 

[fcoulombe]

very good point serafina about hidden costs. I must lose ~10% just in passing money around. everyone takes a cut.

Personally, I was hoping the new gov would help with this kind of stuff. but then again, i'm really not hoping for much... argentina's gonna take time to change (and might never change).