Starting an Internet Business

[MikeB12]

Hi,

So I'm thinking about starting up a website focusing on Argentina and I would like to collect advertising money from Argentine businesses. I already have a LLC in the states.

So, I would like to register the llc here, in order to legally collect advertising dollars from businesses. What steps must be taken? Must I have a certain type of visa? I only have a tourist visa at this point. Thanks. Any advice helps.

 

[Attorney in BA]

Mike,

To set up a local company you do not need to be a resident in Argentina. However, the majority of the members of the board must be residents of Argentina (with a valid residency visa, even though this might sometimes be overlooked by authorities).

To open a branch, you will have file documents related to the incorporation and existance of the company, and prove that the company performs econimically significant business activity in its place of incorporation and/or other countries. There are no residency requirements to be appointed as a representative of a foreign company (on a corporate level). You will, however, require a visa if you want to live here. If you open a branch of your company, you could file for the visa in the "representative of a foreign company" category.

If you have any questions or want more information on this, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] or through my website www.fandinoabogados.com

 

[MikeB12]

Great, thanks for the response. I'll take down your information for later reference.

One last follow up, if you don't mind. Would it be necessary to set up an Argentine S.A. to simply collect advertising fees from Argentine businesses? In other words, is it legal for other Argentine businesses to pay a foreign corporation for services, if that corporation is not registered in Argentina. I will not be employing anyone other than myself, nor conducting any other business activities. Thanks.

 

[Ailujjj]

I would think it would be ok given it's not really a format any different than traditional print magazines who accept advertising from anywhere. Processing payments via credit cards or paypal would probably facilitate this further.

A really great blog that may answer many questions you have is in fact called, Investing and Doing Business in Argentina. You can read it at http://argentinabusiness.blogspot.com/

Cheers/

 

[citygirl]

That's a complex question. If you are conducting habitual business here in Argentina, you need to set up a company here. However it is perfectly legal for a US company to bill/remit payments to an Argentine company. However, there are tax implications (aka the US company won't be able to reclaim the 21% VAT tax).

Also be aware there is no tax treaty btwn the US & Arg so there are tax implications on either course you choose.

 

[Attorney in BA]

Would it be necessary to set up an Argentine S.A. to simply collect advertising fees from Argentine businesses? In other words, is it legal for other Argentine businesses to pay a foreign corporation for services, if that corporation is not registered in Argentina. I will not be employing anyone other than myself, nor conducting any other business activities. Thanks.

As CityGirl says, you will need some kind of permanent establishment if you wish to conduct business on an habitual basis. This permanent establishment may either be a branch of your foreign company or a local company. It's legal for local companies to pay foreign companies for services, but there could be tax issues involved. The number of people employed, or their nationality is not an issue.

 

[jp]

I am almost positive you do not need to have an argentine company to receive advertising payments for a site registered as a commercial entity in another country.

 

[Attorney in BA]

I am almost positive you do not need to have an argentine company to receive advertising payments for a site registered as a commercial entity in another country.

This is correct. You can receive payments with the foreign LLC. However, if that company does business in an habitual basis in Argentina, it must be registered.

What happens if you do not register the company and anyway do business in Argentina? In a recent ruling, a court has gone as far as denying a foreign company its right to sue for its rights in court (even though the right to be in trial is expreslly granted by the law to all foreign companies, registered or not).

What is habitual? There is no set criteria and eventually the court will evaluate that in a case by case basis. There are certain parameters, if you wish to talk about them let me know. They are mostly technicalities and I believe posting them here excedes the topic.

On the other hand, you could also receive payments personally (you invoice instead of your company). Although, you could have a tax issue there if the service is actually provided by your company.

 

[MikeB12]

Thanks everyone for your input. Definitely has given me a clearer idea of what will be involved.