Receipt when purchasing a good

[Uncle Dermot]

Had a massive argument with a friend regarding the following issue: when you purchase something in an Argentinian shop they tend not to issue any receipts. I recently bought some clothes and an electronic device and on both occasions I had to request my receipt. My idea is that a purchase cannot be changed/returned to the shop unless you have a receipt, plus I consider it a fraud if I am sold something and the shop owner is openly trying to avoid paying taxes by not giving me any receipts. I am not sure if this custom is more common when goods are sold to non-Argentinian people (as I have no Argentinian accent when I speak Spanish people immediately realize that I am not a local) or if it tends to be a widespread habit and no matter to whom the good is sold, you always have to fight to have your receipt issued. My friend argues that if the habit here is not to issue any receipts I should go with the flow and let it go, I shouldn't try to impose my European habits to another people. His vision is that if shop-owners were to pay all the taxes they are supposed to pay their business wouldn't be viable anymore, my idea is that if I don't receive a receipt when I buy something the shop owner is committing a fraud and I don't benefit from this behaviour as I am not offered any discounts for agreeing on not being issued receipts. What do you think about this issue?

 

[nikad]

They do not do it because you are a foreigner, they tend to do it. When I decide I want to accept buying with no receipt I usually ask for a discount ( VAT to be more specific ) and If I happen to have any problems with the item and they refuse to replace it, etc I would just report them to AFIP ( this never happened to me really )

 

[Davidglen77]

ALL BUSINESSES ARE REQUIRED TO ISSUE RECEIPTS ON RETAIL PURCHAESE, HOWEVER, small shops, such as boutiques or one or two person businesses will issue you factura 'C' since they are most likely registered with AFIP as monotributo, which is equivalent to "sole proprietor" in the USA. They are not required to pay IVA (a/k/a sales tax or VAT) on items they sell. In large or high volume stores (such as Falabella, or supermarkets) they will issue you factura 'B' or factura 'A' (if you request it and are registered in AFIP as responsable inscripto). Factura 'B' is for consumidor final a/k/a end user, which means you are required to pay IVA or sales tax on your purchase. It's always good to ask for a receipt. In my shop I always give a receipt to people when they purchase items and many times they kind of look at me and say "tira eso a la basura". People here are used to no receipts, however in the USA it is not unusual to get a receipt in any type of business.

 

[French jurist]

The grocery shop at the entrance of my gated community works that way :
They operate with a monotributo, which for commerce is supposed to be limited to something like 150.000 pesos of yearly sales (if you sell for more, you need to register a company and pay higher taxes).

They easily sell for 3.000/5.000 pesos of products every day, do the count
She's open every day of the month and must easily sell for 1.500.000 pesos every year (10 times the allowed limit for a monotributo).
Therefore she pays no IVA (300.000 pesos gained per year), limits her taxes...
I know too that the few people who work for her are paid in black, and cheaply too (10 pesos/hour!). She must be robbing 400.000 pesos per year from the Argentinean budget (and likely will complain about the insecurity!).
Last her products are 10/15% more expensive than in the Chinese supermarket one mile away.
She rents too the place for a ridiculous 2.500 pesos from two old & poor ladies.

When I mention "they", it's a sister & her brother, the sister runs the shop.
They own at least 3 houses (worth each a minimum of 200.000 USD) but everything is likely in the brother's name.

She has a printing calculator & a cashier :
All day long she delivers tickets with the calculator (no legal value at all, just numbers) and when a client she doesn't know enters the shop (it's usually always the same clients stopping by) then she uses the cashier and provides a legal receipt.


Welcome to Argentina!

 

[Uncle Dermot]

ALL BUSINESSES ARE REQUIRED TO ISSUE RECEIPTS ON RETAIL PURCHAESE, HOWEVER, small shops, such as boutiques or one or two person businesses will issue you factura 'C' since they are most likely registered with AFIP as monotributo, which is equivalent to "sole proprietor" in the USA. They are not required to pay IVA (a/k/a sales tax or VAT) on items they sell. In large or high volume stores (such as Falabella, or supermarkets) they will issue you factura 'B' or factura 'A' (if you request it and are registered in AFIP as responsable inscripto). Factura 'B' is for consumidor final a/k/a end user, which means you are required to pay IVA or sales tax on your purchase. It's always good to ask for a receipt. In my shop I always give a receipt to people when they purchase items and many times they kind of look at me and say "tira eso a la basura". People here are used to no receipts, however in the USA it is not unusual to get a receipt in any type of business.

Thanks for the explanation, I wasn't aware of this difference existing between smaller and bigger shops. One question though (and sorry if it sounds stupid and it is something I should know): which taxes are smaller shops supposed to pay on what they sell if they are not required to pay VAT?

 

[French jurist]

Thanks for the explanation, I wasn't aware of this difference existing between smaller and bigger shops. One question though (and sorry if it sounds stupid and it is something I should know): which taxes are smaller shops supposed to pay on what they sell if they are not required to pay VAT?

You are talking about the monotributo : you pay a fixed monthly fee to the local Tax service. Those fees raised about 6 months ago. They must be now in-between 250-1000 pesos (didn't double check, might have changed) per month depending on your sales volume.

 

[Davidglen77]

There is a table that details monotributo categories and what they must pay each month depending on sales, electricity use, $ of wholesale purchases, etc. You can see the table here:
http://www.mediopublico.com.ar/categorias-monotributo-2010/
The payment ranges from $219 to $2880 per month. It's a great advantage to be able to fit into one of the monotributo categories. If you don't you have to pay IVA, ganancias, and all of the other taxes too, Ingresos brutos, autonomos, impuesto al cheque, and an accountant every month to calculate those taxes for you! It sucks!

 

[French jurist]

There is a table that details monotributo categories and what they must pay each month depending on sales, electricity use, $ of wholesale purchases, etc. You can see the table here:
http://www.mediopublico.com.ar/categorias-monotributo-2010/
The payment ranges from $219 to $2880 per month. It's a great advantage to be able to fit into one of the monotributo categories. If you don't you have to pay IVA, ganancias, and all of the other taxes too, Ingresos brutos, autonomos, impuesto al cheque, and an accountant every month to calculate those taxes for you! It sucks!

Plus, you get "obra social", but I don't know the quality of it.