Realistic to Move to Argentina and Live Off Investments?

[oddDistribution]

Just to save you time — you'll be a tax resident in Colombia (to include Global income and assets) if you spend over 183 days/year in the country.

If tax consequences are what concerns you, you'll need to focus efforts on countries that don't tax worldwide income once you're a tax resident. In Latam, this would be Uruguay, Paraguay, and most of the central american countries.

I won't have much income though. I don't think Colombia has a tax on global assets, just income?

 

[oddDistribution]

Many people are in the same situation as the OP. Where they might have passive income like rentals or investment income, etc. I don't know why in the world you would want to get on the radar of AFIP (Argentina IRS). You can live in Argentina as a sort of "perma-tourist" for years.

Even if you lived in Argentina, I doubt you'd want to stay in only Argentina. There are a lot of great places to visit like Uruguay and especially Brazil. As well as trips back to the USA.

I don't see any upside at all for wanting to get permanent residency in Argentina. I'd recommend just going down there first and seeing how you like it first and then you can see.

I actually DID go through the time and trouble when I moved to Argentina many years ago to getting my DNI and I have permanent residency but I honestly don't feel like there is too many benefits vs. hassles.

Are you suggesting doing border runs as an alternative? I also heard that you can keep renewing 1 year visas.

I'm planning to travel to other countries, but at some point I'll need a place to settle down.

 

[Alby]

Don't be led off track by options like permatourism.

Your thinking is good. You want to put roots down. You don't want to be living precariously trying to stay ahead of immigration regulations. The only way to do that is to become an immigrant to one of these countries. In the case of Argentina, that means finding a residency category. You have done this: rentista. The only problem you have is that becoming a migrant in Argentine carries particular taxation issues for you as a rentista. So this is the next thing you need to discover. To do this, you need to engage a taxation lawyer to help you decide if it's feasible. If it isn't feasible, you can take Argentina off the list. If it is feasible, then your next step is to find an immigration lawyer to help you navigate significant bureaucratic difficulties that the rentista categoria carries.

 

[oddDistribution]

Don't be led off track by options like permatourism.

Your thinking is good. You want to put roots down. You don't want to be living precariously trying to stay ahead of immigration regulations. The only way to do that is to become an immigrant to one of these countries. In the case of Argentina, that means finding a residency category. You have done this: rentista. The only problem you have is that becoming a migrant in Argentine carries particular taxation issues for you as a rentista. So this is the next thing you need to discover. To do this, you need to engage a taxation lawyer to help you decide if it's feasible. If it isn't feasible, you can take Argentina off the list. If it is feasible, then your next step is to find an immigration lawyer to help you navigate significant bureaucratic difficulties that the rentista categoria carries.

Thanks for your post. This is pretty much the process I'm working my way through right now. I actually met with an immigration lawyer this afternoon who seemed quite good, but was a bit pricey. It sounds like there may be a way for me to avoid becoming a tax resident if I never gain permanent residency and always spend at least 90 days a year outside of the country. That way I can avoid dealing with Argentinian taxes entirely.

I'm planning to travel, but I don't like the 90 day thing very much. That's more travel than I was thinking to do.

I'm looking into Colombia at the same time. Once I have a good idea of the process there I can weigh my options.

 

[jantango]

Being wealthy with investments has its drawbacks.

I have no income tax obligtations. Living simply on social security does have its benefits.

 

[oddDistribution]

Being wealthy with investments has its drawbacks.

I have no income tax obligtations. Living simply on social security does have its benefits.

That's true. I'll get social security as well eventually assuming it's still around by then.

 

[Alby]

Thanks for your post. This is pretty much the process I'm working my way through right now. I actually met with an immigration lawyer this afternoon who seemed quite good, but was a bit pricey. It sounds like there may be a way for me to avoid becoming a tax resident if I never gain permanent residency and always spend at least 90 days a year outside of the country. That way I can avoid dealing with Argentinian taxes entirely.

Good. But, really, to line up the ducks properly, it's time now to find a specialist tax accountant. It's a complex area, and the immigration lawyer might not have all the details, or the longer-term perspective on how things might play out, and may have a vested interest in downplaying the issue. I'd push the lawyer search to one side for the moment. Keep it logical. If you are looking for a place to settle down permanently, you need the tax strategy sorted first (not just whether or not you have to pay, but what you actually have to do each year to comply (or non-comply) i.e., the administrative burden you take on by moving here permanently). If, after that, it turns out there is a path forward, then you can move on to the next professional service.

 

[oddDistribution]

Good. But, really, to line up the ducks properly, it's time now to find a specialist tax accountant. It's a complex area, and the immigration lawyer might not have all the details, or the longer-term perspective on how things might play out, and may have a vested interest in downplaying the issue. I'd push the lawyer search to one side for the moment. Keep it logical. If you are looking for a place to settle down permanently, you need the tax strategy sorted first (not just whether or not you have to pay, but what you actually have to do each year to comply (or non-comply) i.e., the administrative burden you take on by moving here permanently). If, after that, it turns out there is a path forward, then you can move on to the next professional service.

That's good advice thank you. I agree that the immigration lawyer has an interest to downplay any tax issues in order to convince me to move to work with him in order to move to Argentina. He made it sound almost easy to avoid having tax residency as long as I didn't get permanent residency and spent 90 days per year outside of the country, but maybe it's not that simple.

I should do some diligence on tax matters for Colombia as well which is my second choice country. I'm pretty sure that things would be more straightforward there versus Argentina, but I'll have to confirm that with an accountant/lawyer.

 

[on the brink]

.... avoid having tax residency as long as I didn't get permanent residency and spent 90 days per year outside of the country, but maybe it's not that simple.

Non-residents can spend only six months per calendar year in Argentina. Don't know whether the AFIP keeps track of that, but it is the law.

 

[oddDistribution]

Non-residents can spend only six months per calendar year in Argentina. Don't know whether the AFIP keeps track of that, but it is the law.

I would be a resident by a temporary one. So, I would have a 1 year visa.