Residency Without Fitting Any Category !!!!

[Monique]

Also, regarding property, I understand the tax is on the value on the property, not the amount you actually own (please correct me if I'm wrong!). So if you have a mortgage you might actually own a small percentage of the property but you pay the tax on the full value, which can be significant.

Yes as far as I understand that is correct

 

[steveinbsas]

Also I read somewhere (but of course can't find it anymore) that as bajo_cero stated anyone residing in the country more than 6 months/year is liable to paying taxes (income + assets) which automatically means that this applies to any form of residency, permanent or temporary... Would be good to find a trustworthy source that confirms all of this in detail.

I think your memory is accurate, but I think, based on what bajo_cero2 has posted, if you are a temporary resident at the end of the year you are responsible to pay the bienes personales tax on your world wide assets (unless their value does not meet the taxable threshold).

So my question is about anyone who arrived in Argentina after July 1st (of a given year) and received temporary residency before the end of the year. They would not have been in Argentina for six months at the end of the year, but as a temporary resident at the end of the year, would they be liable to pay the bienes personales tax on their foreign assets?

In the past year or two, migraciones began requiring that it was necessary for anyone with temporary residency to actually have been in Argentina for at least six months in order to renew their temporary residency. Even if they don't owe the tax the first year, once they renew, wouldn't that automatically make them liable as temporary residents for paying the tax as long as they maintained their temporary resident status?

 

[Monique]

Good point Steve. One never knows in Argentina but I would think that in the case that you decscribe the temporary resident would not be liable the first year but once (s)he renews yes.

 

[steveinbsas]

Also, regarding property, I understand the tax is on the value on the property, not the amount you actually own (please correct me if I'm wrong!). So if you have a mortgage you might actually own a small percentage of the property but you pay the tax on the full value, which can be significant.

I'm sure the tax is based on "value" and not equity but I wonder how the value is determined, perhaps by the original purchase price. If there are no property taxes on the property in the foreign country, there won't be a "official" valuation for tax purposes. Would that leave the original purchase price of the property as the base for the tax?

 

[steveinbsas]

Good point Steve. One never knows in Argentina but I would think that in the case that you describe the temporary resident would not be liable the first year but once (s)he renews yes.

If someone is a temporary resident on December 31st of any given year, it may not matter how long they have had their residency.

I'm sure bajo_cero will have an answer.

 

[Bajo_cero2]

Article. 17 of the bienes personales refers to people that are domiciled here. Article 17 does not specifically define domicile but a domicile typically refers to a fixed, PERMANENT residence, not a temporary one. This is why it would make sense that a permanent resident would be required to pay this asset tax and why a temporary one would not. I’m reading this article quite differently from you. How do you think domicile is defined by this law?

CIVIL CODE:
Art. 89. El domicilio real de las personas, es el lugar donde tienen establecido el asiento principal de su residencia y de sus negocios. El domicilio de origen, es el lugar del domicilio del padre, en el día del nacimiento de los hijos.

It mentiones the word residencia but residencia means home.

The income tax law defines residents as the people who lives in Argentina over 6 monts a year.

Article 20 of the National Constitution seems to be primarily talking about foreigners having the right to enjoy same civil rights as citizens. Seems like a real stretch to interpret this article to mean that all foreigners in Argentina have to pay the asset tax even though they don’t permanently reside here. If that’s how you interpret this, then it would seem that tourists should be paying this tax too. Seems a little unlikely don’t you think?

Same rights, same duties. Art. 20 has to be interpret with art. 16 that stablishes that nobody can have privileges. There are not loopholes in the Continental Civil Law.

This is art. 18 of the immigration law:
Sin perjuicio de los derechos enumerados en la presente ley, los migrantes
deberán cumplir con las obligaciones enunciadas en la Constitución Nacional, los Trata-
dos Internacionales adheridos y las leyes vigentes.

I’m not sure why you would say that accountants don’t understand law. Certified Public Accountants specializing in tax are trained to apply specific aspects of law that pertain to tax. In my professional life, I’ve worked with many very competent accountants on issues related to international relocations so I am surprised why you make this generalization.

Only lawyers are able to interpret the law.

I understand that you are an immigration attorney, not a tax attorney, but you seem pretty confident and willing to offer advice outside of your practice area. Really, are you SURE that TEMPORARY residents are required to pay asset tax on assets outside of Argentina? No doubt in your mind?

I m not an immigration attorney. I was educated as a jurist, not a lawyer.
I m specialized on foreigner’s federal law and its Supreme Court Precedents.
I do litigate tax and its fines at Federal Courts.

 

[Bajo_cero2]

Also I read somewhere (but of course can't find it anymore) that as bajo_cero stated anyone residing in the country more than 6 months/year is liable to paying taxes (income + assets) which automatically means that this applies to any form of residency, permanent or temporary... Would be good to find a trustworthy source that confirms all of this in detail.

It is in the income tax law.
However, forget about the kind of residency, any human being who lives here, even irregular, has to pay tax. I am claiming at Court this, instead of fineing my client, the AFIP has to allow him to pay the tax instead of the fine (that is huge).

 

[Bajo_cero2]

Agreed.Thank you. In the U.S. we don't have this type of tax as in Argentina and the Netherlands and am trying to get my arms around it.

Also, regarding property, I understand the tax is on the value on the property, not the amount you actually own (please correct me if I'm wrong!). So if you have a mortgage you might actually own a small percentage of the property but you pay the tax on the full value, which can be significant.

RIght!

 

[Bajo_cero2]

If someone is a temporary resident on December 31st of any given year, it may not matter how long they have had their residency.

I'm sure bajo_cero will have an answer.

It is based on año fiscal that it is not the same than a calendar year.

 

[steveinbsas]

It is based on año fiscal that it is not the same than a calendar year.

The first bank statement I receive each year includes a page that shows my "tenencias" as of December 31st of the previous year. An Argentine accountant told me that the "tenencias" (I hope I spelled it correctly) is provided for the purpose of calculating the bienes personales tax. She said it is based on the aggregate value of motor vehicles, property, and money in banks on December 31st.

If an año fiscall is not the same as a calender year, when does it begin?