Purchases with foreign cards

[antipodean]

Analizan mejorarles el tipo de cambio a los extranjeros que paguen consumos locales con tarjetas

Sería a través de un reintegro automático de impuestos a turistas para gastos cancelados con plásticos; el objetivo es fomentar el mercado oficial de divisas

www.lanacion.com.ar

Introducing the "dólar gringo". Perhaps something to watch perhaps for those with foreign cards and/ or a hedge option to stay ahead of the official in case the brecha goes back down again after the next surprise measure(s) taken by the government. Essentially it would apply an FX rate 21% better than the official to foreign card transactions.

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"They analyze improving the exchange rate for foreigners who pay local consumption with cards
It would be through an automatic refund of taxes to tourists for expenses paid with plastic; the objective is to promote the official foreign exchange market

“It is not a bet for border tourism: it is designed for tourists from countries who are very used to using card payments. Hence, it would only be a limited benefit for payments with cards issued outside Argentina, far from the traditional tax refund for the presentation of tickets to Customs ” , official sources explained.

The asymmetries presented by the local exchange market -among other things- have made Argentina "become more expensive" in dollars for foreigners from the first world, more used to operating at the official exchange rate, which discourages their arrival.

In contrast, a gap with the parallel dollar that has widened to 80% is a magnet for visitors from neighboring countries, who handle themselves with cash and make their currencies worthwhile or - if they exchange them for pesos - they do so at the value of the blue.

“To encourage the use of legal channels in exchange and tax matters, it is necessary to contemplate the eventual impact of the current exchange gap, which is in the order of 85%, on the dynamics of potential visitors to the country as border flows increase. normalize ”, proposes the economist Jorge Vasconcelos, from Fundación Mediterránea."

 

[jblaze5779]

Insult to injury for locals citizens and businesses. They get shit on (officially) while tourists get a better deal on everything.

 

[Redpossum]

Uhh, say what?

"We're going to give you a 20% discount on the 95% ripoff we usually conduct."

 

[Johnny]

As pathetic as it is obvious.

 

[antipodean]

If we think a little more mid-term, we can be sure that brechas come and go up and down but tourist refund schemes tend to linger.

If I understand this correctly, it would replace the current and long standing scheme where hotels manually waive IVA if you present a foreign passport with valid entry stamp and pay by foreign card and tourists can claim back IVA by presenting their receipts on certain goods at AFIP upon departure at the airport. Unlike the existing scheme it would be linked to the place of issue of the card used for payment, and not the “tourist” status of the buyer meaning more room for loopholes.

Regardless, for tourism it would be a welcome move as Argentina IS very expensive to travel around in terms of flights, car rentals and hotels if you don’t have a local credit card and/ or access to cuotas or CCL/ Blue.

 

[ventanilla]

Sounds like something that will just encourage locals to hop over to Uruguay and get a foreign card...

 

[lunar]

Sounds like something that will just encourage locals to hop over to Uruguay and get a foreign card...

Then buy dollars blue @ 196 here, put them on the card, and spend on purchases in peso @ exchange rate of 121, enjoying about 40% loss. Very tempting.

 

[ventanilla]

Then buy dollars blue @ 196 here, put them on the card, and spend on purchases in peso @ exchange rate 121, enjoying about 40% loss. Very tempting.

Locals earn in pesos, there is no reason for them to buy dollar blue here, they would buy Uruguayan pesos or US dollars in Uruguay with their ARS at the official rate then use their card here for a 21% discount over what they would be paying with a local card.

 

[lunar]

... they would buy Uruguayan pesos or US dollars in Uruguay with their ARS at the official rate then ...

Usually magic beans are used for these transactions.
What stops you from buying US dollars for pesos @ official rate now?

 

[SecretShopper]

Interesting. What rate do you get if you exchange Argentina pesos for dollars? I'm sure I'm missing something... let's say an Argentine person takes 1000 pesos and converts it to USD while losing around 10 percent. But then takes that 9 dollars and converts it to 1800 pesos at the blue rate. It's really late so I'm definitely missing something here. Does the conversion from ars to usd start at the blue rate and not the official rate? That would nullify it.