Question about proof of US residence

[Thejohnatvu]

I am a US citizen who has been basically using tourist visas the last 6 years to live here about 7-9 months out of the year.

I am currently selling my apartment. As a non-resident AFIP requires a certificate of US residency. The US embassy told me they couldn't provide such a document. Does anyone know how to go about getting such a document from Argentina.

And if I have to fly back to the US to get such a document, does anyone know the process.

Thanks a lot.

 

[ghost]

Your voter registration card and driver lis is proof of res. AFIP asks for stupid crap that does not exist so they can screw you with fees/taxes

 

[elhombresinnombre]

Your voter registration card and driver lis is proof of res. AFIP asks for stupid crap that does not exist so they can screw you with fees/taxes

But by his own admission, the OP has been living in Argentina for more than six months in the year so AFIP are likely just asking for what is their due. If this is coming as a surprise then it sounds to me as if the OP received bad or no financial advice at the time of the purchase.

 

[fred mertz]

I doubt if a driver's license or voter registration card are proofs of residency. In order for me to renew my Florida driver's license I would have had to furnish current utility bills, mortgage papers, a lease or rent receipts for a residence and probably receipts for a health insurance policy. I no longer have a license and have been crying real crocodile tears for almost a year. A real estate agent or lawyer probably has the right answers.

 

[Thejohnatvu]

I have a valid US driver's license, but that is useless for the AFIP bc I need some certified document explicitly stating I am a legal US resident. I am pretty sure any US citizen (even if they have not set foot in the US for 20 years) is a legal US resident bc they have the potential to RESIDE in the US at any given time.

The problem is, I don't know how to get a certificate stating that (the embassy said they couldn't help) short of returning to the US. And even then, I am not sure how to do so.

If it were a question of fees/taxes I would have gladly paid them, this is just good old fashion red tape.

 

[igor]

The problem is, I don't know how to get a certificate stating that (the embassy said they couldn't help) short of returning to the US.

What kind of certificate would you get from the US? Rental contract? House title? Scan of fourteenth amendment of the U. S. Constitution?
Frankly, I think you need to go back to AFIP and talk to a different person, then to another person etc, until all your questions are resolved.

 

[syngirl]

In Canada your proof of residence is your latest tax return -- it clearly states what your residency status is -- right there in the first few lines it shows your address and whether you filed as a Resident or Non-Resident for that year. I assume in the USA you must have something equivalent on your tax return -- at least your address stated clearly right there.

 

[syngirl]

I have a valid US driver's license, but that is useless for the AFIP bc I need some certified document explicitly stating I am a legal US resident. I am pretty sure any US citizen (even if they have not set foot in the US for 20 years) is a legal US resident bc they have the potential to RESIDE in the US at any given time.

You're confusing right of residency and legal status as resident. Just because you have a passport, citizenship, or a Permanent Residency visa does not mean that you are actually a resident of that country. Legal status as resident comes down to taxes paid and number of days in the country -- which is what ElHombresinnombre was referring to.

If you're spending 7-9 months a year outside of the USA, congratulations, you're not a resident of the USA! I believe to retain residency is 181 days in country -- you'd have to ask a snowbird (The Canadians that go down to Florida every year). they have it calculated out perfectly, making sure to spend just enough days within Canada to qualify them for residency status which allows them continued access to pensions, disability, medical services etc without having to change their residency status.

Don't panic though, before I got my residency card in Argentina I always filed my taxes as a resident of Canada, despite being out of the country 95% of the year. Once I got married to a local though I no longer had enough ties to Canada to be able to prove residency status there, so I no longer have rights to social services there (ie maternity benefits, unemployment, disability etc)

Which reminds me, resident status (at least for taxation purposes) is evaluated by showing that the larger portion of your life is tied to one country or another -- ie you have more property, investments, bank accounts, driving licenses, family etc in one country than another. This is why although I still have ties in Canada, because I'm married to an Argentine and reside here the majority of the time, I'm a non-Resident Canadian. I had to give up my medical services card, I'm supposed to give up my driving license, and I'm also supposed to give up my bank cards -- however I've been with the same bank for 20+ years so they said they have no problem with me keeping my account.

 

[Thejohnatvu]

Thanks for the replies. I think this is what I am going to have to end up doing. Though I could certainly see 45 days from now the AFIP not accepting it.

 

[elhombresinnombre]

Thanks for the replies. I think this is what I am going to have to end up doing. Though I could certainly see 45 days from now the AFIP not accepting it.

I'd say that it's quite likely that they won't accept it. Bear in mind that I'm not a tax lawyer or an accountant and I'm neither an Argentine nor US citizen but I see it like this:

You have been resident in Argentina for more than 180 days per year which makes you liable for tax in Argentina on your world-wide assets throughout those years. Forget entry and exit stamps or multiple passports: I think we established some time ago that the computer records of entry and exits of aliens are referenced by name and date of birth, so these will be available to AFIP.

Many informal residents wriggle through the tax obligations because there's little to pin them down but the selling of property is an opportunity for the authorities to catch up. As well as the above, they will have the opportunity to determine whether you have correctly paid all the annual property charges and taxes and take the opportunity to satisfy themselves that there are no outstanding motoring fines, court charges and judgements against you. The good news is that, if in the United States you are declaring your income and assets, by providing evidence of the taxes you have paid in Argentina, I believe that you may set them off against the same taxes you owe in the USA.

In the absence of records, tax-gatherers tend to assume worst-case scenarios and tax accordingly. The Brits do it and tax one on 'notional income' - what they consider one ought to have earned from that asset - and it's fairly well known that in Argentina the records of the state-owned utilities will be used to determine when a property was occupied and tax notional rental income accordingly.

If you have detailed and scrupulous evidence to cover all of your activities then you can decide for yourself whether hiring an Argentine tax specialist will be cost-effective for you: if your records are somewhat wooly or worse still, non-existent then you probably need a tax specialist on your side.