Argentina Tax Explained

a. Who Collects Taxes

Argentina is a federal country. Taxes come from three levels of government, so the first question about any tax is always: national, provincial or municipal?

• National. The national government taxes income, wealth and consumption through one agency, ARCA (Agencia de Recaudación y Control Aduanero), which also runs customs. ARCA replaced the agency called AFIP in 2024, so older articles and forms still use that name.
• Provincial. The 23 provinces and the City of Buenos Aires each have their own tax agency. They tax business activity, contracts and deeds, and real estate.
• Municipal. Towns and cities charge fees for local services.

Chapter 4 goes through the taxes at each level. For now, remember one thing: the two big taxes for individuals, income tax and wealth tax, are national. The same rules apply wherever in Argentina you live. What those rules take from you depends on two ideas.

b. Resident vs Non-Resident

The two ideas are source and residence. Together they decide almost everything.

Source is where income comes from. Income is Argentine when it comes from work done in Argentina or from assets located here, such as a property or shares in an Argentine company. Income is foreign when it comes from work done abroad or from assets abroad.

Residence is your status for tax purposes. Why it matters: a non-resident is taxed only on Argentine income. A tax resident is taxed on income from anywhere in the world, with a credit for income tax already paid abroad on that income.

Here is the part that surprises people: your tax residence is not the residence on your immigration papers. There are three different labels, decided by three different authorities:

• Immigration status (temporary or permanent resident), decided by the immigration office. It sets your right to live and work here.
• Nationality, shown by your passport.
• Tax residence, set by the income tax law and applied by ARCA. It decides whether Argentina taxes only your Argentine income or your worldwide income.

The three are related, but they are not the same thing. Chapter 3 shows exactly when a foreigner moves from the first kind of taxpayer to the second. First, though, the reason all this matters before you even pack.

c. Why It Matters Before You Move

Almost every costly tax mistake in a move is a timing mistake, and timing can only be fixed in advance. Four examples:

• Your switch date decides which country taxes some of your biggest events. Selling an investment, or receiving a bonus or a pension lump sum, a few weeks before or after you become a resident can change where that income is taxed.
• A single day decides the wealth tax. Argentina looks at what you own on 31 December. The first 31 December after you become a resident is the one that counts.
• Your old country has its own exit rules. Leaving does not always end your tax obligations there, and the United States taxes its citizens wherever they live.
• Some decisions are cheaper before you arrive: where your savings will sit, which documents prove where your money came from, and which accountant you will use.

An hour of planning before the move is worth more than a year of corrections after it. And the planning starts by dropping seven assumptions.

d. Costly Assumptions About Argentine Taxes

Seven assumptions cause most of the expensive surprises. All seven are wrong:

• "Argentina will tax everything from the day I land." It will not. When you arrive you are a non-resident, taxed only on Argentine income, until a date you can calculate in advance.
• "Argentina will not tax me until I am a permanent resident." Also wrong. Twelve months on temporary permits are enough, unless an exception applies to you (Chapter 3).
• "My residence card makes me a tax resident." It does not, on its own. Neither does buying a home or opening a bank account. The permit and the time decide.
• "I will be taxed twice." Usually not. Argentina credits foreign income tax on foreign income, and it has double tax treaties in force with 24 countries.
• "Money abroad is invisible." Argentina exchanges financial account information automatically with dozens of countries, and has an exchange agreement with the United States too.
• "Remote work for foreign clients is not Argentine income." Work you physically do in Argentina counts as Argentine income, even when your employer or client is abroad.
• "My old country stops taxing me when I leave." That depends entirely on your old country. Ask there before you go.

Replace these seven assumptions with the facts in this guide, and you avoid most of the trouble newcomers run into. The facts start with a short vocabulary.

a. CUIT and Fiscal Password

The CUIT (Clave Única de Identificación Tributaria) is your tax number, issued by ARCA. Why it matters: you need it to file returns, send invoices, rent out or buy property, or run a business.

Since March 2026, the CUIT is the single tax number for individuals. A resident who does not yet have an Argentine ID card can obtain a provisional one. A person who lives abroad requests it through a representative in Argentina (Chapter 9).

The CUIL (Código Único de Identificación Laboral) is the labor number issued by ANSES, the social security administration. Why it matters: if you are an employee, your salary contributions are recorded under it.

The clave fiscal ("fiscal password") is your personal password for ARCA's online services, where returns are filed, payments are made and your tax information is kept. Why it matters: anyone with it can act in your name before the tax agency. You obtain it yourself, and you guard it like a bank password. With your number and your password, you can meet the two taxes that matter most.

b. Income Tax and Wealth Tax

Ganancias is the national income tax; the word means "earnings". Why it matters: it takes the largest share from most people who earn here. Individuals pay it on a progressive scale from 5% to 35%. That means income is cut into slices, and each slice is taxed at its own rate. Chapter 5 shows the 2026 table and a worked example.

Bienes Personales ("personal assets") is the national wealth tax: a yearly tax on what an individual owns on 31 December. Why it matters: residents pay it on what they own in Argentina and abroad, but only above a high minimum amount. Non-residents pay it on what they own in Argentina. The rates are low and falling every year. Chapter 6 explains it calmly.

The two work on different clocks. Income tax looks at a whole year of earnings. Wealth tax looks at one day of ownership. Keeping both clocks straight is part of what you pay an accountant for.

c. Your Accountant

A contador público is a licensed public accountant. Why it matters: this is the professional who registers you, prepares your returns, calculates your advance payments and gives tax advice. If you have more than a salary, working with one is usually worth it.

Choosing well matters more than choosing cheaply. Look for an accountant who works with foreigners every week and can explain your switch date and the foreign tax credit in plain words. When your situation crosses borders, they should be willing to work with an adviser in your home country. Find them before your first deadline, not after it.

Bring four things to the first meeting:

• your passport and residency papers;
• your arrival date;
• a list of every source of income, Argentine and foreign, and the month each payment arrives;
• a list of everything you own, with its country and approximate value.

Your accountant will use a handful of other words all the time. Here they are.

d. Monotributo, IVA, Ingresos Brutos and Other Words

• IVA (Impuesto al Valor Agregado) is value added tax, included in most prices. The general rate is 21%.
• Ingresos Brutos ("gross income") is the turnover tax that each province and the City of Buenos Aires charge on the gross income of businesses and self-employed people.
• Monotributo is a simplified regime for small taxpayers. One monthly payment replaces income tax and VAT, and includes pension contributions and health cover.
• Retención is withholding: the tax deducted at source by whoever pays you, such as your employer, and sent to ARCA on your behalf.
• Anticipos are advance payments on account of next year's tax, calculated from this year's bill.
• Declaración jurada is the annual tax return. It is "sworn" because you sign it as a statement of truth.
• Sellos is the stamp tax, charged by the provinces on many contracts and deeds. Some deals are exempt, such as, in the City of Buenos Aires, buying your only home up to a limit (Chapter 7).
• ABL is the City of Buenos Aires' property tax. Elsewhere, the province charges a real estate tax and the municipality its own fees.
• SiRADIG is the online service where employees declare their deductions to their employer (the form is known as F.572).

One habit saves hours. When you research a question, search for both "ARCA" and "AFIP", and check the date of every figure you read. In Argentina, a peso amount without a year is not information. Now the question everything else depends on: from when are you a tax resident?

a. The Rule

A foreigner becomes an Argentine tax resident on obtaining permanent residence, or after staying in the country for twelve months with temporary permits, whichever comes first. Temporary trips abroad during those twelve months do not reset the count.

Notice what is not in the rule. Buying a home does not make you a tax resident. Opening a bank account does not. Neither does receiving your Argentine ID card as a temporary resident. What counts is the permit and the time.

The rule has two special cases, and one of them may be you:

• People sent here to work. Foreigners in Argentina for work reasons, for a stay that does not exceed five years, are not treated as tax residents. Neither are the family members who accompany them on temporary permits. They are taxed only on Argentine income. The exception depends on being able to show the purpose and expected length of the stay, so keep documents such as an assignment letter from your employer.
• Argentine nationals. They are tax residents by default, unless they have lost that status under the rules for people living abroad. If you also hold an Argentine passport, do not assume the foreigners' twelve-month rule applies to you; ask a specialist before you arrive.

Knowing the rule is half the job. The other half is turning it into a date on your calendar.

b. The Date

Your tax residence starts on the first day of the month after you meet the test. Five steps give you the date:

1. 1Write down your arrival and your permits: the date you arrived and the date each status began (visitor, applicant with a provisional certificate, temporary resident).
2. 2Note when permanent residence could come on your route.
3. 3Count twelve months on temporary permits. Keep your travel dates, because you may need to prove them. Whether time as a visitor or on a provisional certificate counts toward the twelve months is a question for your accountant; to be safe, plan as if it does.
4. 4Take the earlier trigger: permanent residence or the end of the twelve months.
5. 5Move to the first day of the next month. That is your switch date. Then mark the next 31 December: it decides your first wealth tax return as a resident.

An illustration: a temporary residence that begins in March 2026 completes twelve months in March 2027. Tax residence starts on 1 April 2027, and the first 31 December as a resident is 31 December 2027. That leaves a full year to organize foreign accounts, collect statements and find an accountant, with no rush. So what actually changes on that first day?

c. What Changes

On your switch date, three things change:

• Your worldwide income comes into scope. Salaries, pensions, rents, interest and dividends from abroad become taxable in Argentina, with a credit for foreign tax (Chapter 9).
• Your worldwide assets count on 31 December. If you are a resident on that date, the wealth tax looks at what you own in Argentina and abroad (Chapter 6).
• You file as a resident. If you have income beyond a salary taxed at source, you file an annual return and use the allowances and deductions in Chapter 5.

Before that date, Argentina taxes only your Argentine income, usually through withholding by whoever pays you. For many kinds of income, that withholding is the final tax. One point catches remote workers: work you physically do in Argentina counts as Argentine income even when the client is abroad.

The switch also works in reverse. A resident stops being one on obtaining permanent residence in another country, or after twelve months in a row living abroad. Visits back to Argentina that add up to no more than 90 days in each twelve-month period do not break that count. The change takes effect on the first day of the following month. Most mistakes at this stage are about dates, and they are easy to avoid once you see them.

d. Timing Mistakes That Cost Money

Six timing mistakes cost real money:

• Selling after the switch instead of before. A large investment sold a few weeks too late can fall under a different country's tax. Plan the date with an adviser who knows both countries.
• Letting big payments drift. Bonuses, stock options and pension lump sums have dates. Know them, and know which side of your switch date they fall on.
• Forgetting the first 31 December. Assets held abroad on that day count for the wealth tax, even if you move them in January.
• Not keeping travel records. The twelve-month count, and the 90-day rule if you ever leave, both depend on dates you may have to prove.
• Relying on the work-assignment exception without paperwork. No assignment letter, no easy proof.
• Ignoring your home country's exit rules. Some countries keep taxing you, or tax you on leaving. Ask before you go.

You now know when. The next chapter is about what: the different taxes, at each level of government.

a. National

Five national taxes matter to individuals:

• Income tax (Ganancias): on income, progressive from 5% to 35% for individuals (Chapter 5).
• Wealth tax (Bienes Personales): on what you own on 31 December. Residents pay it above a minimum; non-residents pay it on what they own in Argentina (Chapter 6).
• VAT (IVA): included in most prices. The rate is 21% as a rule. It is 10.5% on some items, such as certain medical services and some capital goods, and 27% on utilities such as electricity and telecoms supplied to businesses.
• Tax on bank account movements: 0.6% on each credit and each debit. It falls mainly on current accounts; many movements in individuals' savings and salary accounts are exempt. Ask your bank how your account is treated.
• Social security contributions for employees: about 17% of salary (11% for the pension, 3% for the health fund and 3% for the retirees' health institute), withheld by the employer.

ARCA runs all of them, and they follow the same rules in every province. One level down, things start to vary.

b. Provincial

Three provincial taxes matter:

• Turnover tax (Ingresos Brutos): on the gross income of businesses and self-employed people, at rates that depend on the activity and the place.
• Stamp tax (Sellos): on many contracts and deeds, including property purchases. Rates, thresholds and exemptions differ from one province to another. Some purchases are exempt, such as your only home in the City of Buenos Aires, up to a limit (Chapter 7).
• Real estate tax: on property, based on its official valuation. In the City of Buenos Aires, the city charges its own property tax, the ABL.

This is the level where your choice of place changes your bill. The same purchase or the same business can carry different taxes in different provinces. And the last level is the closest to your front door.

c. Municipal

Municipalities charge fees (tasas) for local services, such as street cleaning, lighting or inspections of businesses. Outside the City of Buenos Aires, a property owner usually receives both a provincial real estate tax bill and municipal fees. The amounts are modest compared with national taxes, but they come back every year, so ask for the last bills of any property before you buy it. Some taxes, though, you will pay without ever seeing a bill.

d. Taxes You Pay Without Filing Anything

Many Argentine taxes reach you without a return:

• VAT is already inside most prices.
• The bank movements tax is charged by the bank on the accounts it applies to.
• Employees' income tax and contributions are withheld by the employer every month.
• Stamp tax on a property purchase, when the purchase is taxed, is calculated and collected by the notary at the deed.
• Dividends from Argentine companies carry a 7% withholding, generally as the final tax.
• Non-residents' Argentine income is taxed by withholding at source. For example, an owner who lives abroad has 21% of the gross rent withheld (the law applies 35% to a deemed net income of 60% of the rent). A professional who works in Argentina during a short stay has 24.5% of the gross fee withheld. A treaty can reduce these rates if you give the payer a certificate of tax residence from your country.

Withheld does not always mean finished. For a resident with other income, some withholdings are only a payment on account of the annual return. The next chapter shows how income tax is calculated, from the first peso to the final bill.

a. What Is Taxed

For a tax resident, here is how common types of income are treated under the 2026 rules:

• Salary, fees and business profits, from Argentina or abroad: taxable on the progressive scale, 5% to 35%.
• Pensions and other income from abroad: taxable on the scale, with a credit for foreign income tax.
• Interest on savings accounts and term deposits at Argentine banks: exempt, in pesos and, since 2026, also in foreign currency.
• Dividends from Argentine companies: 7% withheld by the company, generally as the final tax.
• Dividends and interest from abroad: taxable, with a credit for foreign tax.
• Rent from an Argentine home let to a tenant as their permanent home: exempt since 2026 (Chapter 7).
• Other rent, in Argentina or abroad: taxable on the scale.
• Gains on selling property in Argentina: exempt for sales since 1 January 2026, with special rules for people who trade property as a business (Chapter 7).
• Gains on shares, bonds, funds and crypto: special rules that depend on the investment and where it is held. Get advice before you sell.

A non-resident is taxed only on Argentine income, mostly through withholding (Chapter 4). For a resident, the next question is how much.

b. Brackets and Deductions

The method has four steps:

1. 1Start with your gross income for the calendar year.
2. 2Subtract what the law allows: social security contributions, permitted deductions and your personal allowances. What is left is your net taxable income.
3. 3Find your bracket in the table and take its fixed amount.
4. 4Add the bracket's rate on the part of your income above the bracket's starting point.

The 2026 table of net taxable income, as updated in July 2026 (the annual figures; the amounts are updated every January and July, while the nine brackets from 5% to 35% stay the same):

A worked example. Suppose your net taxable income for 2026 is ARS 30,000,000 (about USD 19,231). It falls in the bracket from ARS 21,032,583.18 (≈ USD 13,482). The fixed amount is ARS 3,131,517.94 (≈ USD 2,007). The part above the bracket's start is ARS 8,967,416.82 (≈ USD 5,748), and 23% of it is ARS 2,062,505.87 (≈ USD 1,322). Your income tax for 2026 is ARS 5,194,023.81 (≈ USD 3,330). That is an average rate of about 17.3%, even though your top slice is taxed at 23%.

At ARS 80,000,000 (about USD 51,282), the same method gives about ARS 20.3 million (about USD 13,000), roughly 25.4% on average. The 35% applies only to the part above ARS 70,984,968.25 (about USD 45,503). Before the table, though, come the amounts you subtract, and they are worth knowing well.

Allowances are fixed amounts the law lets you subtract. Why they matter: they lower your taxable income before any rate applies. There are three kinds:

• a basic allowance of about ARS 6.0 million (about USD 3,850) for 2026, for every individual taxpayer;
• a special allowance for employees of about ARS 28.9 million (about USD 18,500), with a smaller one for the self-employed;
• family allowances for a spouse and for each child under 18 who depend on you.

Allowances generally require that you, and the family members you claim, lived in Argentina for more than six months of the year.

Deductions are things you actually pay, which you may subtract within limits:

• Social security contributions: the amount withheld.
• Private health plan fees: up to 5% of your net income.
• Doctors' and other medical fees: 40% of the invoices, within 5% of your net income.
• Rent of the home you live in, only if you own no real estate at all: 40% of the rent, up to the basic allowance.
• Wages and contributions of registered domestic staff: up to the basic allowance.
• Mortgage interest on your home: ARS 20,000 (about USD 13) a year, a fixed amount that has not kept up with inflation.
• Donations to approved institutions: up to 5% of your net income.
• Children's education expenses: up to 40% of the basic allowance.
• Life insurance and funeral costs: up to limits set each year.

Knowing the amount is one thing. How you actually pay it depends on how you earn.

c. How It's Paid

There are three ways the tax is paid:

• Employees. The employer withholds income tax from each paycheck, using cumulative monthly tables, and settles the year at the end. Employees declare their deductions online through SiRADIG (form F.572), so the monthly withholding goes down. If your salary is your only income, you usually do not file a return to pay.
• The self-employed, and anyone with income beyond a salary. You file an annual return around the middle of the following year, pay the balance, and then make advance payments (anticipos) toward the next year.
• Non-residents. The payer withholds the tax at source, usually as the final payment.

Since 2026, some individuals can opt for a simplified return: those with income of up to ARS 1,000 million (about USD 641,000) and assets of up to ARS 10,000 million (about USD 6.41 million). ARCA proposes the tax based on the information it already holds, and you either accept and pay it, or review and adjust it. A return accepted this way is presumed correct, unless the tax agency later finds a significant discrepancy. Simple as the system is, people still make the same seven mistakes.

d. Income Tax Mistakes to Avoid

• Converting the peso table once and reusing it. Argentine amounts move with inflation, and exchange rates move on their own. Always start from the peso table for the year in question, and convert only the result.
• Paying without invoices. Every deduction needs an invoice or proper document. An expense paid in cash without one is an expense you cannot deduct.
• Claiming the rent deduction while owning property. It applies only if you own no real estate at all, not even a share.
• Arriving mid-year and assuming full allowances. The six-month condition can change your first year. Ask your accountant which allowances you can use.
• Forgetting foreign income after the switch. Pensions, rents, interest and dividends from abroad belong on a resident's return.
• Losing the proof of foreign tax. No proof, no credit. Keep the statements that show what was withheld abroad.
• Not updating your deductions as an employee. Deductions you never declare in SiRADIG do not lower your withholding.

Income tax looks at what you earn. The next chapter is about the tax that looks at what you own.

a. Who Pays

The wealth tax (Bienes Personales) is a yearly tax on what you own on one day: 31 December. Why it matters: who pays, and on what, depends on which kind of taxpayer you are on that day.

• Residents pay on their worldwide assets owned on that day, but only on the value above a high minimum.
• Non-residents pay only on assets located in Argentina, at a flat 0.5% with no minimum. They pay through a local representative: the person in Argentina who co-owns, uses, manages or holds the asset.
• Shares in Argentine companies are handled by the company itself, which pays 0.5% on its shareholders' behalf, so they do not appear on your own return.

So the first question is not how much, but which kind of taxpayer you are on 31 December. That is why your switch date (Chapter 3) matters so much here. If you are a resident, the next question is what you can leave out.

b. Exclusions

Three large items are left out of a resident's calculation:

• Savings accounts and term deposits at Argentine banks, in pesos or in foreign currency.
• Argentine government bonds.
• Your main home, if its value for tax purposes is at or below about ARS 1.35 billion (about USD 865,000; the 2025 figure, updated every year). If it is worth more, it counts in full, not just the part above the limit.

Everything else counts: other property in Argentina or abroad, foreign bank accounts and investment accounts, vehicles, and other assets, valued under the tax's own rules. Once you have that total, the math is short.

c. The Calculation

The calculation has three steps:

1. 1Add up the value of your taxable assets on 31 December.
2. 2Subtract the minimum: ARS 384,728,044.57 (about USD 246,621) for the 2025 period, the latest one filed.
3. 3Apply the scale to what is left.

For the 2025 period, the general scale for residents, applied to the assets above the minimum, was:

An illustration. Taxable assets of ARS 450,000,000 (≈ USD 288,462) on 31 December 2025, minus the minimum, leave ARS 65,271,955.43 (≈ USD 41,841). That falls in the second row: a fixed ARS 263,321.42 (≈ USD 169), plus 0.75% of the ARS 12,607,671.70 (≈ USD 8,082) above ARS 52,664,283.73, which is ARS 94,557.54 (≈ USD 61). Wealth tax for the period: ARS 357,878.96 (≈ USD 229). That is less than 0.1% of the total assets.

The minimum and the brackets are updated for inflation every year, and the rates are coming down: the law sets a single rate of 0.25% from the 2027 period. A temporary reduced scale for long-standing compliant taxpayers ended with the 2025 period. A one-off prepayment regime offered in 2024 was open only to people who were already tax residents at the end of 2023. Neither applies to a newcomer. What does apply is a set of very avoidable mistakes.

d. The 31 December Mistakes

• Thinking January fixes December. The snapshot is literal. Money in a foreign account on 31 December counts at its value on that day, even if you move it in January.
• Missing your first 31 December as a resident. It is the first one after your switch date. Review where each of your assets is, and how each is treated, well before it.
• Forgetting the exemptions. Deposits at Argentine banks are exempt from both income tax on their interest and the wealth tax. Know where your savings will sit before the snapshot, not after.
• Assuming your home is always out. It is left out only up to the limit. A home worth more counts in full.
• Forgetting the tax as a non-resident owner. An Argentine property owned from abroad pays 0.5% a year through a local representative.
• Having no list. Make your "31 December list" now: every account, property, investment and vehicle, with its country and approximate value. It takes an hour, and it shows at a glance whether the tax is likely to matter to you.

For many people, the biggest asset on that list is property. The next chapter covers the taxes that come with it, from the day you buy to the day you sell.

a. Buying

When you buy, the notary (escribano) calculates the taxes due on the deed, collects them and pays them. The main one is the stamp tax, set by each province and by the City of Buenos Aires. Why it matters: on the same purchase it can be zero or a real cost, depending on where you buy and why. In the City of Buenos Aires, in 2026:

• Your only home, to live in. If the property will be your single, family and permanent home, and you own no other home, the deed is exempt up to ARS 226,100,000 (about USD 144,936). Above that, 3.5% applies only to the excess.
• Any other purchase. This covers a second home, an investment, an office, or a buyer who already owns a home. The rate is 2.7% when the value is up to ARS 226,100,000 (about USD 144,936), and 3.5% when it is higher. By custom, buyer and seller split it equally.

Outside the city, each province sets its own rates and exemptions, so ask your escribano for the rules where you buy. Three more points:

• The old 1.5% tax on property transfers (the ITI) was repealed in July 2024.
• The purchase itself does not create an income tax bill.
• From the day you own the property, it belongs in your wealth tax picture, wherever you live.

To buy, you need a CUIT. The full list of closing costs, tax and non-tax, is in the Argentina Housing Roadmap. Once the deed is signed, a new set of taxes starts.

b. Owning and Renting Out

Every year you own, you pay the local property tax: the ABL in the City of Buenos Aires; elsewhere, a provincial real estate tax plus municipal fees. You may also pay the wealth tax: as a resident, only if your total assets are above the threshold; as a non-resident, at 0.5% on what you own here (Chapter 6). Argentina does not tax the notional rental value of the home you live in.

Renting out a home long term became very simple in 2026. The rent an individual earns from a property the tenant uses as their single, family and permanent home is exempt from income tax. The exemption applies:

• to individuals and undivided estates (an inheritance before it is shared out), but not to companies;
• to every home let this way, with no limit on the number of units or on the rent;
• to amounts the tenant pays for furniture, fittings or services provided with the home;
• to rent accrued since 1 January 2026, whatever the date of the contract.

Renting out a home to live in is also exempt from VAT. Still taxed: rent from offices, shops and other non-residential property, on the progressive scale after deducting the property's actual expenses. Short-term and tourist rentals do not fit easily into the "permanent home" definition, and the rules do not mention them. Assume they are taxable until a specialist tells you otherwise.

And for an owner who lives abroad, the general rule of a 21% withholding on rent applies. If that is you, ask an Argentine accountant how the 2026 exemption applies to your case before you count on it.

If you become a tax resident and keep a home in your old country, it counts toward your wealth tax total. Any rent it produces is taxable in Argentina, with a credit for the tax you pay where the property is. Selling, on the other hand, has become the friendliest moment of all.

c. Selling

Since 1 January 2026, an individual's gain on selling property located in Argentina is exempt from income tax, and so is the gain on transferring rights under a purchase contract. This applies whether the seller lives in Argentina or abroad. Check three details with your notary or accountant first:

• Professional traders. People who buy and sell property as a business, such as developers and builders, follow different rules.
• The date that counts. A sale is made when the deed is signed, or earlier if possession is handed over under a purchase contract. A deal where possession changed hands before 2026 may fall under the old rules.
• Development trusts. The regulation does not expressly include transfers of rights in development trusts, so ask how a resale before delivery would be taxed.

Selling property abroad while you are an Argentine tax resident is a different matter: it falls under Argentina's worldwide rules. Get advice before you sign. With rules this friendly, the mistakes that remain are mostly assumptions.

d. Property Tax Mistakes

• Assuming short-term rentals are exempt. The 2026 exemption is written for permanent homes.
• Assuming the exemption covers you as a non-resident owner, without an accountant checking your case first.
• Letting the property out through a company and expecting the individual exemption. Companies do not qualify.
• Assuming the stamp tax is always due, or never due. It depends on the province and on your case. Ask your escribano before you budget.
• Forgetting the property in your wealth tax picture, as a resident or as a non-resident owner.
• Losing the purchase file. Keep the deed and every closing-cost receipt together; you will want them when you sell.
• Selling a home abroad after your switch date without advice. As a resident, that sale is in Argentina's scope.

Property is one side of your Argentine finances. Work is the other, and it comes with choices of its own.

a. Monotributo

Employees are the simplest case. The employer withholds income tax and about 17% of salary in social security contributions every month (Chapter 4). For everyone else with a small business, there is the monotributo.

The monotributo is a simplified regime for small taxpayers. Why it matters: one fixed monthly payment replaces income tax and VAT, and includes pension contributions and health cover. You are placed in one of eleven categories, from A to K. Your category depends on your annual income and on other measures, such as the space you use, your electricity consumption and the rent of your premises.

The income ceiling is updated during the year; in 2026 the top category allows more than ARS 100 million (about USD 64,100) of annual income. Some provinces offer a unified version that adds their turnover tax to the same payment; elsewhere it is paid separately.

Four rules decide whether you can join:

• your income must stay under the ceiling;
• you must not have imported goods for resale in the previous twelve months;
• you must not run more than three activities at once;
• if you are a partner or director of a company, that activity goes in the general regime instead.

You issue electronic invoices for everything you sell. And when the business grows past these limits, the next step is bigger.

b. Companies

When a business outgrows the monotributo, or needs partners, there are two steps up.

The general regime is the standard tax system for larger self-employed people and businesses. It means income tax on the progressive scale, 21% VAT charged on your invoices, self-employed pension contributions and provincial turnover tax. You file monthly VAT returns and an annual income tax return, usually with an accountant.

A company is a separate taxpayer. Foreign investors usually work through a corporation (sociedad anónima, SA) or a limited liability company (sociedad de responsabilidad limitada, SRL). An SA needs a minimum capital of ARS 30 million (about USD 19,200).

Companies pay corporate income tax on a progressive scale from 25% to 35%, and dividends paid to shareholders carry a 7% withholding on profits earned since 2018. They also pay VAT, provincial turnover tax and, on current accounts, the 0.6% tax on bank movements. A company is a serious structure, not a shortcut. Open one when the business needs it, with an accountant and a lawyer at your side. Whichever route you take, two taxes follow you.

c. VAT and Gross Income Tax

VAT (IVA) is charged at 21% as a rule, 10.5% on some items and 27% on utilities supplied to businesses. In the general regime, you add it to your invoices, deduct the VAT on your own purchases and pay the difference every month. Services exported from Argentina to clients abroad have their own VAT rules; check them before you invoice a foreign client.

Gross income tax (Ingresos Brutos) is a tax on the gross income of an activity, charged by each province and by the City of Buenos Aires. The rate depends on the activity and the place. If you work in several provinces, an agreement between them, the Convenio Multilateral, decides how your income is shared out among them.

Tierra del Fuego is a special case. Since a national law of 1972, the province has had a special tax and customs regime. It exempts promoted activities carried out there from several national taxes, under conditions such as a real presence in the province, registration and, for industrial projects, approval and employment targets. If you plan to live, work or invest there, ask a specialist exactly what it covers in your case. Buenos Aires & Patagonia Explained describes daily life in Ushuaia and the rest of the south.

d. Mistakes When You Start Earning Here

• Invoicing before registering. Register before your first invoice, not after your first payment.
• Assuming foreign clients mean no Argentine tax. Work you do from Argentina is Argentine activity, wherever the client is.
• Staying in the monotributo after outgrowing it. Track your income against the ceiling every month, and move to the general regime in time.
• Opening a company too early. It brings bookkeeping, financial statements and corporate filings. Start simple and grow into it.
• Forgetting the provincial tax. Turnover tax is separate from the national taxes, unless your province bundles it.
• Accepting cash without invoices. Income you cannot document is a problem waiting for its date.

An hour with an accountant before you start earning is the cheapest hour of your move. The next chapter turns all of this into a yearly process.

a. Getting Your CUIT

How you get your CUIT depends on your situation:

• With an Argentine ID card (DNI), you request your CUIT from ARCA.
• As a new resident without a DNI yet, you can obtain a provisional CUIT, valid for up to two years. You need your passport and the immigration certificate showing your case and type of residence. Once the DNI arrives, you request the definitive one.
• Living abroad, for example to buy property, your CUIT is requested through a representative or authorized person with an address in Argentina, using ARCA's form and your passport.
• As an employee, you also need a CUIL from ANSES; your employer uses it to register you.

Then obtain your clave fiscal, choose how you will earn (Chapter 8) and register for the taxes that apply to you before your first invoice. The Argentina Residency Roadmap explains how the tax number fits into the residency process. Once you are registered, the year has a rhythm.

b. The Yearly Calendar

• January and July: income tax brackets and allowances are updated for inflation.
• Every month: employers withhold income tax; the monotributo payment is due; the VAT return is due if you are in the general regime.
• Around June: annual returns and payment of income tax and wealth tax for the previous year, on dates set by the last digit of your CUIT. The dates are sometimes extended.
• After filing: advance payments toward the next year's income tax, in instalments.
• 31 December: the snapshot date for the wealth tax, and the end of the income tax year.

Copy these five lines into your calendar the week you register. Then add your own dates: your switch date and your first 31 December as a resident. The last piece is the one most newcomers fear: paying twice.

c. Treaties and Credits

Two tools stop you from paying tax twice on the same income.

The foreign tax credit is a subtraction of foreign income tax from your Argentine tax. When income from abroad has already been taxed there, a resident can subtract that foreign tax from the Argentine tax on the same income, up to the Argentine tax that the income generates. If the foreign tax is lower than Argentina's, you pay the difference here. If it is higher, the credit stops at the Argentine tax.

For example, take a foreign dividend of ARS 1,000,000 (≈ USD 641), with ARS 150,000 (≈ USD 96) withheld abroad. The Argentine tax on it is ARS 270,000 (≈ USD 173), at a 27% top rate. You pay only the difference in Argentina: ARS 120,000 (≈ USD 77). The dividend is taxed at 27% in total, not 42%.

Treaties are agreements between two countries on who taxes what. Argentina has double tax treaties in force with 24 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

Treaties decide which country taxes each kind of income. They include tie-breaker rules for people who could be residents of both countries, and they often protect short work trips, typically stays of under 183 days. To benefit from a treaty's lower withholding rates on Argentine income, you give the payer a certificate of tax residence from your country. New treaties come into force from time to time, so check the current list before you rely on one.

If you are a US citizen, note that there is no income tax treaty between Argentina and the United States. And the United States taxes its citizens on their worldwide income wherever they live. Americans rely on the foreign tax credit rules of both countries, which makes an adviser who knows both systems essential. The two countries do have an agreement to exchange information on financial accounts, signed in December 2022.

And one tool replaces any temptation to hide. Since 2017, Argentina has taken part in the automatic exchange of financial account information between tax authorities. Banks and brokers in dozens of countries report accounts held by Argentine tax residents. Once your foreign accounts matter to Argentina, assume ARCA can see them, and declare them properly. If you ever get something wrong, here is what it really costs.

d. Penalties, and How to Fix a Mistake

What a mistake really costs:

• Late filing or late payment: fines and interest. They add up, but they are not a catastrophe.
• Underpaid tax: the missing tax, plus interest and fines.
• Crime: only above ARS 100 million (about USD 64,100) of evaded tax per tax and per year for simple evasion, and ARS 1,000 million (about USD 641,000) for aggravated evasion. Both thresholds are updated every year from 2027.
• How long a year stays open: five years as a rule. It is reduced to three if you filed and paid on time and there is no significant discrepancy with the information the tax agency holds.

How to fix one: as soon as you or your accountant find an error, correct the return and pay what is missing, with interest. Correcting on your own initiative, before the tax agency asks, is usually the cheaper path. Honest errors lead to corrections, interest and fines, not prison.

That is the whole system. The last chapter puts it on one page, with a checklist for the months before you move.

a. The System in One Page

1. 1Three levels. National taxes (income, wealth, VAT) through ARCA; provincial taxes (turnover, stamp, real estate); municipal fees.
2. 2Three labels. Immigration status, nationality and tax residence are different things. Only tax residence decides what Argentina taxes.
3. 3Your switch date. Permanent residence, or twelve months on temporary permits; tax residence starts on the first day of the following month.
4. 4Your income. Argentine income is always in scope; worldwide income after the switch, with a credit for foreign tax. Interest at Argentine banks is exempt.
5. 5Your income tax. Net taxable income, the table for the year, the fixed amount plus the rate on the excess: 5% to 35%. Allowances and deductions, always backed by invoices.
6. 6Your wealth tax. A 31 December snapshot. Residents pay above a high minimum, with Argentine bank deposits and the main home largely protected; non-residents pay 0.5% on what they own here. Rates fall to 0.25% from 2027.
7. 7Your property. Stamp tax when you buy, unless your purchase is exempt; local taxes every year; long-term home rentals and sales free of income tax for individuals since 2026.
8. 8Your work. Employee, monotributo, general regime or company, plus provincial turnover tax.
9. 9Your calendar. Updates in January and July, annual returns around June, the snapshot on 31 December.
10. 10No double tax, no hiding. The foreign tax credit, the 24 treaties, and full disclosure of accounts abroad.

Ten lines. The next section turns them into things to do before you move.

b. Your Pre-Move Checklist

1. 1Calculate your switch date and put it in your calendar, together with your first 31 December as a resident.
2. 2Ask your home-country adviser what leaving means there. If you are a US citizen, your US filing continues.
3. 3Plan big events around the switch: sales of investments, bonuses, stock options and pension lump sums.
4. 4Check whether your country has a treaty with Argentina, and get a certificate of tax residence if you will receive Argentine income before your switch.
5. 5Make your income map: Argentine and foreign income, with the month each payment arrives.
6. 6Make your 31 December list: every asset, its country and its approximate value.
7. 7Collect proof: purchase records and values of your investments and property, and bank statements that show where your money comes from.
8. 8Decide where your savings will sit, knowing that deposits at Argentine banks are exempt from both income tax on interest and the wealth tax.
9. 9Get your CUIT and clave fiscal as soon as your status allows, and choose your earning route.
10. 10Find a contador who works with foreigners before your first deadline, not after it.

c. Your Next Step

Turn the checklist into a plan with two conversations before you move: one with an adviser in your home country, and one with an Argentine accountant. Bring your dates, your income map and your 31 December list. Between them, they can confirm your switch date and decide what to do before it.

If property is part of your plan, bring it into the same conversation early. Where and when you buy, whether you will live in it or rent it out, and whether you buy before or after your switch date all have tax consequences. A local team like Roffo Realty can help you with the property side of those decisions, alongside your accountant. That way, the home you choose and the tax plan you follow fit together.

d. Where the Other Guides Fit In

Taxes are one of four pieces. The other guides in this series cover the rest:

• Argentina Residency Roadmap: your residency route and timeline, which are also your tax timeline.
• Argentina Housing Roadmap: renting and buying step by step, with every closing cost.
• Buenos Aires & Patagonia Explained: where to live, and what changes from one province to another.

Read them in the order your questions arrive. Most people need all four within their first year.