Phisically carrying USD

[el_expatriado]

I'm sorry, but I find that very difficult to believe. I have my salary transfered in dollars every month to an agency and am happy that it only costs me 3.5% (their charge is 1%, but there's a minimum which means with my measly salary it's costing me more!).

I guess the problem is that you are bringing in too few dollars. I am usually doing transfers of $30,000 USD per month. The agency does charge me 2% to cash a US check, though. But no charge for wire transfers and since YPF, they are paying me a small bonus to bring in the funds.

 

[el_expatriado]

What else confuses me is the "bringing in of dollars" el_expatriado mentions. One doesn't actually send money to the business here in Argentina. Me wiring money to the bank account of the agency (sometimes in the US, sometimes in Uruguay, depending on the change house I'm using on that transaction) is not putting dollars into an Argentine bank account or otherwise bringing dollars in. How is that bringing dollars into the country? They balance their books somehow between the country receiving the money and the country giving out the money. True, I haven't understood exactly how they make money out of it, but my transfers do not go into Argentina, thus bringing dollars in.

It is very simple, actually. They have a bank account in a country with no capital controls (i.e. USA or Uruguay or sometimes a Caribbean country). Then they just match up people who want to bring dollars into Argentina (expats and others who are spending and investing here) with people who want to send funds out of Argentina (i.e. local businessmen, people who want to put their savings abroad, etc).

They take the physical cash in Argentina from the people who want to send money out and give it to the people who need to bring it in. Then with their bank account they do the reverse. They have the expat wire them their funds and then they re-wire it out to the accounts of the businessmen and people who want to get money out of Argentina.

The system only works to the extent that they can balance the money coming in with the money going out. They do this by setting the fee. That's why I pay nothing now to bring in funds to Argentina. There are so many people who want to get cash out of Argentina that the money brokers have to lower fees to zero (or pay me) to compete for the business of the people who want to bring cash in. It is supply and demand.

 

[JoeBlow]

the people you declare the money to might contact chorros waiting for you on the highway on your way to the city.

hahahahhahaha

 

[tez]

They take the physical cash in Argentina from the people who want to send money out and give it to the people who need to bring it in. Then with their bank account they do the reverse. They have the expat wire them their funds and then they re-wire it out to the accounts of the businessmen and people who want to get money out of Argentina...... It is supply and demand.

That makes sense... but I'm such a chicken when it comes to wiring money to peoples' accounts. What makes you sure they'll give you the cash in the end? Trust? I know, I know---people do this stuff all the time, business, whatever, but like I said, I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to that stuff...

What I can also attest to, though, is how hard it must be to get cash out of the country. I posted on here about my experience going to Uruguay last December by boat, I was basically given a physical. Everything touched and groped and even pinched and I had to move my arms bend in strange ways. At the time I had no idea what was going on. There were two things they didn't check though: la matera and my shoes.

So, all that said, I'm not surprised they are paying people like el_expatriado to help "move" some dollars, it's probably a really great business to be in right now!

 

[citygirl]

I don't know of any place that is paying people to bring in their dollars. I get charged 2% when I write a check against my US account. Then again, I don't know of anyone wiring 30,000 USD on a monthly basis. Why would you want to bring that kind of money into Argentina

 

[jb5]

He's probably using it t do business. I also get charged nothing for wires. Though I'll be looking into getting paid, because it makes sense at this point in time.

 

[citygirl]

Good point. Wasn't thinking about business - we bill in pesos here & pay out in pesos here - Arg for Arg (I like to keep things as separate as possible from the US company!)

 

[felix_the_cat]

Hi, I am new to posting on this forum, though I have read stuff every now and then over the past few years.

I am interested in bringing over UD$50K so I can use it to invest in some property, but I am not sure the best way to bring it over. Declaring it is probably not an option for me, because I work "en negro" and am not registered ith AFIP. Bringing it in physically by concealing it and not declaring it sounds very risky, though it could be a final option.

However, I am interested in exploring this idea of doing it through a financiera but I really have not idea what I am doing or who to trust. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Also, does anyone know what the requirements are of setting up a US dollars bank account in Uruguay (even though I reside here in Arg) so that I can transfer the money to that account from overseas, and then cross from Arg to uruguay and bring in the cash in stashes that are less than 10K at a time (therefore legally not required to declare it)?

Any help people can offer and pointing me in the right direction would be helpful. I was hoping to PM a couple of people who said interesting things on the forum, but there doesn´t seem to be an option for sending private messages (or perhaps I am currently restricted for being new to the forum)

Anyway, thanks in advance...

 

[Bajo_cero2]

If you bring the usd just declare them, just do not confess to AFIP that you work under the table. It makes no sense to bring black money when AFIP is checking the origen of the founds on real estate boughts.
You declare it, it is white money, simple.

 

[nlaruccia]

If you bring the usd just declare them, just do not confess to AFIP that you work under the table. It makes no sense to bring black money when AFIP is checking the origen of the founds on real estate boughts.
You declare it, it is white money, simple.

Correct me if I'm wrong Bajo, but if you don't declare it and buy property then sell it later, you can't prove the origin of the funds to Afip. Hence they will tax you a HUGE portion of the amount made from the sale.