Welcome to the Club Dolar Qatar y Coldplay!

[Quilombo]

Effective midnight tonight, we will have two new dollars in town: the Dólar Qatar and Dólar Coldplay.
Naturally, as Peronism is the most rational and normal economic management style on earth, one requires
a brief explainer regarding the changes:

Purchases made abroad with debit/credit cards (up to $299.99 USD/month):

You will now have a monthly cuota of up to $299.99 a month to make purchases at the current dólar tarjeta exchange rate.

As of Tuesday, October 11th at 20:00 this is $1 USD = $274.75 ARS

Example: Wendy's at IAH; $8.77 USD = $2,409.56 ARS

IMPORTANT: To avoid the Dólar Qatar rate you MUST NOT EXCEED $299.99 IN MONTHLY PURCHASES, THE SECOND YOU
PASS IT WILL RESULT IN ALL PURCHASES, INCLUDING ONES YOU MADE AT THE CHEAPER DOLAR TARJETA EXCHANGE
RATE TO CONVERT TO THE DOLAR QATAR RATE

Purchases made abroad with debit/credit cards (Over $299.99 USD/month):

If you exceed $299.99 in purchases per month ALL your purchases, including those already made before hitting $300 will be charged
at an exchange rate of the BCRA exchange rate x2.

As of Tuesday, October 11th at 20:00 this is $1 USD = $314.84 ARS

Example: You're in Miami and you pick up a new iPhone; $999 USD = $314,525.16 ARS

Airline tickets, boat tickets, hotels, cruises, general tourism etc. abroad paid for in pesos:

You will now pay an exchange rate of the BCRA exchange rate x2.

As of Tuesday, October 11th at 20:00 this is $1 USD = $314.84 ARS

Example: You use Despegar to book a room at a hotel in Montevideo for one night; $87.33 = $27,494.98 ARS

An international artist comes to preform in Buenos Aires and you buy a ticket to their show:

TBD; it's hard to say since we don't know what the cost of the tickets are in dollars normally, tickets will now be subject to the 30% PAIS tax.

As of Tuesday, October 11th at 20:00 this is $1 USD = $204.65 ARS

FAQs:

I already made purchases abroad, bought tickets abroad, or bought a ticket to the Coldplay concert. Will I have to pay any extra taxes now?

No, it is NOT retroactive. If you want to purchase any of the above mentioned things I recommend doing so within the next 3.5 hours.

Are the increases legal?

Yes, as is the case previously, the courts ruled that as this is a tax which congress passed giving the executive branch legal authority to increase at will.

Can I apply for a refund for the Bienes Personales portion if I am exempt?

Likely yes, but given that inflation is approaching over 100%/year what you get back in real terms will be a lot less that what you paid. (The government is basically getting negative interest loans from people using the Bienes Personales).

Does the $300 monthly limit rollover? Do purchases of dollars for savings or plane tickets impact my cuotas as well?

We don't know yet, and if there is roll over, it will only be in one direction, i.e. if you don't buy anything this month you wont have a franchise of $600 next month, that's for damn sure, and I wouldn't be surprised if you spend $400 this month your cuota is reduced to $200 the next. I also assume that purchases of tourism goods/services abroad will also deduct from your franchise, but we'll again have to wait to see.

Should I use my dollars instead of pesos now when paying for goods and services abroad or making travel plans?

It honestly depends on what exchange rate you're getting and how many dollars you've spent this month in pesos; i.e. if the blue/WU rate exceeds the official exchange rate x2 then it is cheaper to pay in pesos.

What will happen to Blue and WU exchange rates?

They'll likely go up tomorrow, but by how much it's hard to say.

What's the impact overall for us?

WU is currently giving $303.60 ARS/$1 which means if you're going to spend over $300, i.e. buying a ticket to Miami, you're probably better to pay on the US website at least until the market, both blue and CCL (for which WU is based) adjust to the new cepo.

 

[sts7049]

this government is a joke

 

[medialuna]

Effective midnight tonight, we will have two new dollars in town: the Dólar Qatar and Dólar Coldplay.
Naturally, as Peronism is the most rational and normal economic management style on earth, one requires
a brief explainer regarding the changes:

Purchases made abroad with debit/credit cards (up to $299.99 USD/month):

You will now have a monthly cuota of up to $299.99 a month to make purchases at the current dólar tarjeta exchange rate.

As of Tuesday, October 11th at 20:00 this is $1 USD = $274.75 ARS

Example: Wendy's at IAH; $8.77 USD = $2,409.56 ARS

IMPORTANT: To avoid the Dólar Qatar rate you MUST NOT EXCEED $299.99 IN MONTHLY PURCHASES, THE SECOND YOU
PASS IT WILL RESULT IN ALL PURCHASES, INCLUDING ONES YOU MADE AT THE CHEAPER DOLAR TARJETA EXCHANGE
RATE TO CONVERT TO THE DOLAR QATAR RATE

Purchases made abroad with debit/credit cards (Over $299.99 USD/month):

If you exceed $299.99 in purchases per month ALL your purchases, including those already made before hitting $300 will be charged
at an exchange rate of the BCRA exchange rate x2.

As of Tuesday, October 11th at 20:00 this is $1 USD = $314.84 ARS

Example: You're in Miami and you pick up a new iPhone; $999 USD = $314,525.16 ARS

Airline tickets, boat tickets, hotels, cruises, general tourism etc. abroad paid for in pesos:

You will now pay an exchange rate of the BCRA exchange rate x2.

As of Tuesday, October 11th at 20:00 this is $1 USD = $314.84 ARS

Example: You use Despegar to book a room at a hotel in Montevideo for one night; $87.33 = $27,494.98 ARS

An international artist comes to preform in Buenos Aires and you buy a ticket to their show:

TBD; it's hard to say since we don't know what the cost of the tickets are in dollars normally, tickets will now be subject to the 30% PAIS tax.

As of Tuesday, October 11th at 20:00 this is $1 USD = $204.65 ARS

FAQs:

I already made purchases abroad, bought tickets abroad, or bought a ticket to the Coldplay concert. Will I have to pay any extra taxes now?

No, it is NOT retroactive. If you want to purchase any of the above mentioned things I recommend doing so within the next 3.5 hours.

Are the increases legal?

Yes, as is the case previously, the courts ruled that as this is a tax which congress passed giving the executive branch legal authority to increase at will.

Can I apply for a refund for the Bienes Personales portion if I am exempt?

Likely yes, but given that inflation is approaching over 100%/year what you get back in real terms will be a lot less that what you paid. (The government is basically getting negative interest loans from people using the Bienes Personales).

Does the $300 monthly limit rollover? Do purchases of dollars for savings or plane tickets impact my cuotas as well?

We don't know yet, and if there is roll over, it will only be in one direction, i.e. if you don't buy anything this month you wont have a franchise of $600 next month, that's for damn sure, and I wouldn't be surprised if you spend $400 this month your cuota is reduced to $200 the next. I also assume that purchases of tourism goods/services abroad will also deduct from your franchise, but we'll again have to wait to see.

Should I use my dollars instead of pesos now when paying for goods and services abroad or making travel plans?

It honestly depends on what exchange rate you're getting and how many dollars you've spent this month in pesos; i.e. if the blue/WU rate exceeds the official exchange rate x2 then it is cheaper to pay in pesos.

What will happen to Blue and WU exchange rates?

They'll likely go up tomorrow, but by how much it's hard to say.

What's the impact overall for us?

WU is currently giving $303.60 ARS/$1 which means if you're going to spend over $300, i.e. buying a ticket to Miami, you're probably better to pay on the US website at least until the market, both blue and CCL (for which WU is based) adjust to the new cepo.

Excellent explanation Quilombo! I'm also wondering if you know what's the exchange rate for the booking made on Airbnb? I've been asked by many Argentines who wanted to book my place but they want to know what will be the price in Pesos. I can't answer them because I don't know how it works. Will it be the Despegar rate or Coldplay rate? My settlement bank account is in US dollars, outside of Argentina. So eventually I will only receive dollars for any booking regardless of which countries they are from.

 

[jblaze5779]

I like how instead of devaluating the official rate they just create devalued rates for every type of purchase.

This is something a 2nd grader would think up.

 

[Quilombo]

this government is a joke

Excellent explanation Quilombo! I'm also wondering if you know what's the exchange rate for the booking made on Airbnb? I've been asked by many Argentines who wanted to book my place but they want to know what will be the price in Pesos. I can't answer them because I don't know how it works. Will it be the Despegar rate or Coldplay rate? My settlement bank account is in US dollars, outside of Argentina. So eventually I will only receive dollars for any booking regardless of which countries they are from.

This is a great question! I would say it depends on how the BCRA and VISA/Mastercard/Amex codes Airbnb payments. I'm going to assume they'll be coded as a regular dollar denominated transaction abroad, i.e. subject to whether your renters have hit their $300 threshold that month or not (and whether renting your place will put them over) as the application of the 25% tax to tourist agencies is meant to stem outbound dollar payments by people booking international travel with payments to domestic Argentina companies.

I like how instead of devaluating the official rate they just create devalued rates for every type of purchase.

This is something a 2nd grader would think up.

Reminded me of the poem Smart by Shel Silverstein:

My dad gave me one dollar bill
‘Cause I’m his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
‘Cause two is more than one!

And then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes — I guess he didn’t know
That three is more than two!

Just then, along came old blind Bates
And just ’cause he can’t see
He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,
And four is more than three!

And then I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!

And then I went and showed my dad,
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head —
Too proud of me to speak!

Like I said, Peronism truly is the best economic system. It's so good that every other country on Earth is afraid to try it

 

[FrankPintor]

I'm a bit lost... we bought tickets for Coldplay (the promoter, All Access, is farting about with supposedly having converted the tickets into digital tickets, without notification, and with broken links and rejected purchase codes, but that's beside the point). We paid in pesos, of course, as we have for all of the other concerts / "recitales" we went to here, Karol G, J Balvin, Romeo Santos... what exchange rate is involved here?

 

[Quilombo]

I'm a bit lost... we bought tickets for Coldplay (the promoter, All Access, is farting about with supposedly having converted the tickets into digital tickets, without notification, and with broken links and rejected purchase codes, but that's beside the point). We paid in pesos, of course, as we have for all of the other concerts / "recitales" we went to here, Karol G, J Balvin, Romeo Santos... what exchange rate is involved here?

If you bought the tickets already you're fine; future tickets sales as of today going forward are impacted and expect the prices to go up by 25% as the promoters/agencies will have to pay ~$204.65 ARS per dollar in order to pay the artists, where previously they were accessing dollars at the official exchange rate.

i.e. If it cost Promociones ABC S.A $1.2 Million USD to bring J Balvin to Luna Park, they'd be paying $181,191,120 ARS in order to pay him. Now, that will cost the company $245,580,000 ARS. This is why it's a bit ambiguous, because concert tickets are in pesos, but the best example would be what a ticket cost last night vs today for the same show and date with today's cost likely being 25% higher.

 

[FrankPintor]

OK, got it, it's more for the concert promoters, but the public will pay more anyway.

 

[FrankPintor]

I like how instead of devaluating the official rate they just create devalued rates for every type of purchase.

This is something a 2nd grader would think up.

If you want to put it like that, ok... but it's a bit obvious that the "super minister" Sergio Massa recognizes that the current exchange policy is unsustainable, and he's looking for ways to devalue, without it being said that he devalued. So we have the techno-dollar, the Qatar-dollar, the Coldplay-dollar, the soya-dollar, and so on, probably more are to come, until we reach a point where, actually, most of the economy is already running on an exchange rate close to the Blue Dollar rate, and/or the Blue Dollar rate has come closer to the official rate, and unpegging the last remaining official rates is actually not going to make too much difference any more. Maybe for early - mid 2023. Things are going the way pretty much everyone thinks they should, I'm not sure what your problem is?

 

[Brian_is_here]

My family rents a business that's tied to the official rate. i'm waiting for the devalue to occur to be able to bump up our disposable income quite a bit.