Renting a house in BA without permanent residency?

[¡Sencillamente yo!]

Hi, You can easily fly under the internal revenue service (AFIP) radar provided that you (basically) don`t spend too much money that comes from traceable sources like local credit cards, bank accounts, etc. This means that you have to use mainly cash.
.... BUT these guys are narrowing the circle in order to prevent people from doing so: for this reason, you have to declare your ID number even when you make a purchase exceeding XXXX (may be 100 U$) at the supermarket.
Historically rentals were private businesses between two parties (tenant and renter), but since March 2021, these contracts must be declared to AFIP .... and what you pay for your rent must be somehow reasonably correlated to your incomes.
Without a taxpayer number, called CUIT you will not be able to register the rental contract at AFIP.

So IMHO, the best option for your case (in submarine terms) is "surfacing" : an accountant can inscribe you in AFIP in a type of simplified tax called Monotributo. This tax is for self employed people. According to your declared incomes you will be in any of the categories from A to F, being the latter the highest. If you declare incomes to put you in a D or E zone you will pay taxes for about 5000$ .... which is less than 40 U$ a month: not too bad for receiving a CUIT number that will get you into a gray zone! (not completely white nor completely black)

I'll preface my comments by saying that it's best to follow all laws. You simply sleep better and you never have to be looking over your shoulder.

The confiscation of your money in the form of taxes is the toll one pays through life and the view from this side of the bars (JAIL!) is much better.

If you truly have the means, and you don't want to share (PAY TAXES!) then the best one could do is as follows:

DON'T MAKE ANY ATTEMPT OR EFFORT to be legitimate in Argentina. This means no citizenship, no residency, no DNI, no relationships with financial services, no cell phone contracts, no automobiles, no leases or rental contracts, etc ... (I am sure I am forgetting a major category or two so someone will have to help me out.)

PAY THE LONG PRICE FOR EVERYTHING!

This means:

Stay in a good Air BNB at a higher price, maintain your cell service from your home country, do you banking from abroad and on and on and on ...

Leave after 90 days and go somewhere else or get the extension for another 90 days, but don't stay in the country beyond the half year mark to qualify for the obligation of taxation. If you enjoy the area, the climate, the culture etc ... skip over to Uruguay and spend an equal amount of time there for a higher cost of living, but it keeps you "local."

If you have enough assets to protect / safeguard against AFIP , then paying the higher toll to avoid taxation and the inconvenience of moving around will be well worth the effort. If your assets are minimal or you are inherently cheap (And I don't know if this applies to you or not, so please forgive me, but I can think of no other way to make my point effectively.) get on with life, open your wallet and live a bit.

I guess what it all boils down to is this: How much do you have to protect and to what lengths are you willing to go to do so.

 

[Alpinista]

.... BUT these guys are narrowing the circle in order to prevent people from doing so: for this reason, you have to declare your ID number even when you make a purchase exceeding XXXX (may be 100 U$) at the supermarket.

i generally agree with your post, but this particular point does not reflect what i experienced over the last years. I even bought a brand new car last year for more than 10k usd without declaring nothing, literally walking into the office with a plastic bag full of pesos.
and then there is the classic question that is: hay un descuento en efectivo? To which the answer is almost always yes.

 

[desde_Holanda]

Loads of information, abbreviations etcetera. Thank you all! I am trying hard to digest all the feedback. A couple of preliminary ideas/conclusions:

1. Good point about the basic choice to make between legal and illegal. I am not so much trying to walk an illegal road. My focus is more on preventing unwanted spin-off effects in terms of income and wealth taxation for me + unwanted questions re my partner's situation. What preference the owner of the house has in terms of receiving the rent: that's not my responsability.

2. As Steve suggested, it seems practical to put the official lease contract on my partner's name. Whatever will be in that lease contract, in practice I will likely pay a (different) amount in euros/dollars to a foreign account of the owner. Note that we are long-term friends of the owner. Trust is not the issue, and payment not a risk (the money is there, I could also pay a lump sum for 2 years rent in advance, if needed).

3. I guess there are loads of ways to provide proof of following up the rules of the official lease contract, if that proof is necessary.
And the same goes for exchanging euros to the necessary pesos for the cost of living, during the period we will be in BA (my partner more months per year than me): loads of possibilities, transferring money by WU, cash pickups, using Dutch debit and credit cards etc.

4. For the months I am there I will use the regular tourist visa. If necessary we'll make a trip to Uruguay, Chili or Brazil.

Apart from the height of the lease in relation to my partner's income (does the lease term have to be based on real 'economic value'?), this seems to be a simple solution for the period of renting. In the eventual situation that we will buy the house in a couple of years, I will probably need advice from KMPG, PWC.

 

[Cosme]

i generally agree with your post, but this particular point does not reflect what i experienced over the last years. I even bought a brand new car last year for more than 10k usd without declaring nothing, literally walking into the office with a plastic bag full of pesos.
and then there is the classic question that is: hay un descuento en efectivo? To which the answer is almost always yes.

No doubt that you can buy whatever you want (not only here, but everywhere) with a bag full of money.... buy you will never be able to legally own it (without your very basic local ID and tax #)

 

[steveinbsas]

No doubt that you can buy whatever you want (not only here, but everywhere) with a bag full of money.... buy you will never be able to legally own it (without your very basic local ID and tax #)

Based on previous posts I've read in the forum, I beleive it is possible to buy and legally own a car here with a foreign passport and a CDI (the previously mentioned tax number for foreigners without even a "very basic" local ID). You can also drive it here legally here with a foreign driver's license with a valid 90 day tourist visa.

The question that still appears to be unanswered was asked in the title of this thread: is it possible to sign a long term (now three year?) lease without permanent residency?

PS: For what it's worth, based on personal experience, unless the laws have changed, it is also possible to buy and legally own a house or an apartment here with a foreign passport and the CDI.

 

[antipodean]

Based on previous posts I've read in the forum, I beleive it is possible to buy and legally own a car here with a foreign passport and a CDI (the previously mentioned tax number for foreigners without even a "very basic" local ID). You can also drive it here legally here with a foreign driver's license with a valid 90 day tourist visa.

The question that still appears to be unanswered was asked in the title of this thread: is it possible to sign a long term (now three year?) lease without permanent residency?

PS: For what it's worth, based on personal experience, unless the laws have changed, it is also possible to buy and legally own a house or an apartment here with a foreign passport and the CDI.

For long term leasing without PR, yes it is possible. I’ve done it before I had my DNI. All contracts legal and registered even back then. They can put your passport number on the contract and IF they need a tax ID then a CDI would suffice as for any reportable transaction.

It goes without saying that some owners may be reluctant to sign a long term contract with someone who only has short term permission to remain or without the traditional guarantee, but every situation and relationship is unique.

 

[steveinbsas]

For the months I am there I will use the regular tourist visa. If necessary we'll make a trip to Uruguay, Chili or Brazil.

Be careful about trips to Uruguay, Chili or Brazil for the purpose of geting a new 90 day visa to "stay legal."

You certainly CAN leave Argentina while your initial 90 day tourist visa (entry permit) is valid and you WILL be granted a new 90 day entry permit when you return, that is as long as the immigration agent you happen to encounter thinks you are simply acting like a typical tourist and NOT abusing the 90 day visa.

BUT if /after you have done this several times, there is a possibility that you could be denied re-entry on the grounds you are a fake tourist.,

As Bajo_cero2 pointed out

...There was a change in the law on 2010 and there is something called "desnaturalización del permiso de ingreso turista" or fake tourist. This allow the immigration agent to reject you at the border line if he suspect that you are a fake tourist.
Take a look:

And one VERY important point: IF you get a 90 day prorroga (extension) of your intital 90 day visa at migraciones and you leave and re-enter the country before the prorroga expires, you will NOT be granted a new 90 day tourist permit at the border.