Money Import Questions

[Rasetti]

Juan, thanks for sharing, it's good to know someone who has gone through the whole process. Although, I think I'd be more worried about the ganancias than the paperwork if I went over the limit hehe. I'll try Galicia and ICBC later this week.

Sure, no problem!
Let us know how it goes, and I obviously summarized my experience in the post without going into much detail, so I'm happy to help if you need more information.

 

[Girino]

Well, I called Commercio al Exterior HSBC, they said as far as transferring savings to buy a house, just wire the money then call the same office within 48 hours. No f-ing way. I'm waiting to speak to a notary for advice in that regards.

I am not sure why you would wire yourself the money, instead of wiring them directly to the seller. Why the extra step?
This way, it is clearly justifiable (i.e. you are not moving abroad your money to hide them, but to buy a house). At least that is the logic when buying properties abroad in Europe.

 

[Rasetti]

I am not sure why you would wire yourself the money, instead of wiring them directly to the seller. Why the extra step?
This way, it is clearly justifiable (i.e. you are not moving abroad your money to hide them, but to buy a house). At least that is the logic when buying properties abroad in Europe.

If the seller agrees to that sure, it's the best way, easier and safer.
But normally they don't so they can keep the dollars en negro: when you finalise the Escritura ("title") you normally declare a lower selling price to pay less taxes.
And in any case you'll still need some cash money for the reserva, the real state agent comission, the escribano, etc.

 

[Girino]

If the seller agrees to that sure, it's the best way, easier and safer.
But normally they don't so they can keep the dollars en negro: when you finalise the Escritura ("title") you normally declare a lower selling price to pay less taxes.
And in any case you'll still need some cash money for the reserva, the real state agent comission, the escribano, etc.

Thanks for the explanation. So when you wire the money to your account in Argentina, you withdraw part of the money, convert them to USD, and hand the cash to the seller? Is it even allowed to withdraw large amounts of cash from your own account without giving an explanation? In Europe, it has becoming harder and harder. Especially for higher amounts.
Pardon my naïvety, I am new to the process but I am interested.

 

[Rasetti]

Serafína,

I totally understand your confusion because I lived abroad for 11 years and the idea of handing a bag full of dollars to the seller would be downright rejected and totally suspicious.

Here, in general, works differently. The typical scenario is as follows:

You withdraw the necessary amount from your bank account for each step of the operation.
The only thing to consider, in my experience, is that except for small amounts, when withdrawing you need to let know the bank branch in advance, so they have enough usd to pay you.

Sometimes the bank has meeting rooms where you can do the operations, but you need to get the seller and the escribano to agree to do it there. Usually, you do it at the escribano's.
It's common here for people to store this kind of money in security boxes though, so to get the seller onboard you could open an account in their bank and branch, so they don't have to get out of the branch with the cash.

This is not to say that you can't do it electronically, you just need to get the other parties to agree to do it. There is no rule against it, but I guess culture and history still make it less appealing than cash.

 

[nikad]

I am not sure why you would wire yourself the money, instead of wiring them directly to the seller. Why the extra step?
This way, it is clearly justifiable (i.e. you are not moving abroad your money to hide them, but to buy a house). At least that is the logic when buying properties abroad in Europe.

It can be done both ways, paperwork is different ( I am talking about international transactions )

 

[nikad]

Thanks for the explanation. So when you wire the money to your account in Argentina, you withdraw part of the money, convert them to USD, and hand the cash to the seller? Is it even allowed to withdraw large amounts of cash from your own account without giving an explanation? In Europe, it has becoming harder and harder. Especially for higher amounts.
Pardon my naïvety, I am new to the process but I am interested.

Any withdrawals over 40000 pesos they have to report to AFIP and you need to fill out a form. You can receive dollars into your account if you wire dollars, or euro if you wire euro. It doesn't have to be converted into anything. Depending on the source of your funds ( how it was generated ) you might want to bring it in under different codes and in different ways through banks.

 

[gverd]

Any withdrawals over 40000 pesos they have to report to AFIP and you need to fill out a form.

Do you know if any forms or documentation must be completed in order to receive the funds?

 

[nikad]

Do you know if any forms or documentation must be completed in order to receive the funds?

Yes, you need to present documentation.

 

[Girino]

I found a house for sale ads showing a sale price of USD 130,000 or USD 90,000 CONTADO. Does it mean "money in a bag" or else? I thought it meant "if you don't need to ask for a loan and drag this further".