Tax in Argentina

Who is the tax authority in Argentina?

The Agencia de Recaudación y Control Aduanero (ARCA) is the federal tax authority of Argentina, established in October 2024 by Decreto 953/2024 to replace the Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos (AFIP) under the Milei government's institutional reforms [SC1][SC2]. ARCA administers federal tax (Impuesto a las Ganancias, Impuesto al Valor Agregado, Impuesto sobre los Bienes Personales, Monotributo, and the various export-and-import duties), customs administration, and the federal social-security collection function. Provincial tax administrations (the Direcciones de Rentas / AGIP-AFIP-equivalents in each of Argentina's 24 provinces and the City of Buenos Aires) administer Ingresos Brutos (a province-level gross-receipts tax), Sellos (provincial stamp duty), and Impuesto Inmobiliario (provincial real-estate tax). Tax disputes proceed through the Tribunal Fiscal de la Nación and the federal Cámaras Contencioso-Administrativas before the Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación. The Federación Argentina de Consejos Profesionales de Ciencias Económicas (FACPCE) coordinates the principal credentialed Contador Público profession at federal level; provincial Consejos administer registration and regulation.

What is the Argentine tax year and the filing deadline?

The Argentine tax year for individuals is the calendar year. The annual Impuesto a las Ganancias return for individuals (Formulario 711 or equivalent under the SiAp/Sidam/Modulo schedules) is filed in May or June following the tax year, with deadlines staggered by CUIT-digit (the last digit of the taxpayer's identification number) under ARCA's annual filing calendar [SC3]. Specific year-by-year dates are announced via ARCA Resolution. Tax owed is generally collected through monthly Retenciones e Anticipos (withholding and advance payments) for self-employed and high-income individuals; balancing payments are due upon final assessment. Companies file the Impuesto a las Ganancias return for legal persons within five months of fiscal year-end (with the precise schedule set by CUIT digit). IVA returns are filed monthly under the standard regime or quarterly under the simplified regimes for smaller operators.

How is Argentine tax residency determined?

Under Article 119 of the Ley de Impuesto a las Ganancias (text ordered 2019), Argentine nationals are presumed to be Argentine tax residents continuously unless they establish residency in another jurisdiction (typically by emigration with a 12-month-plus continuous absence, formal change of residency, or treaty tie-breaker) [SC8]. Foreign nationals become Argentine tax residents after 12 months of continuous physical presence in Argentina, with short interruptions not breaking the count, or upon obtaining permanent-residence visa status. Treaty residency tie-breakers under Argentina's bilateral DTCs apply where two jurisdictions both treat a person as resident.

Residents are taxed on worldwide income with foreign-tax-credit relief; non-residents are taxed on Argentine-source income only, generally through final-withholding mechanisms at rates that vary by income type. The Régimen Simplificado para Pequeños Contribuyentes (Monotributo) under Law 24.977 provides a simplified flat-fee combined tax-and-social-security regime for small operators with annual revenue under specified thresholds (the exact thresholds are inflation-adjusted twice per year), bundling Impuesto a las Ganancias, IVA, and the social-security contribution into a single monthly payment. Argentine taxation has been heavily impacted by inflation-adjustment mechanisms (ajuste por inflación) given the persistent high-inflation environment.

How does Argentine personal income tax work?

Argentine personal income tax — Impuesto a las Ganancias — operates on a graduated bracket structure indexed to the Mínimo No Imponible (MNI) and to inflation under recent reforms. Rates after the 2024 reforms (Ley 27.743) are 5 percent up to a first inflation-indexed threshold, 9 percent, 12 percent, 15 percent, 19 percent, 23 percent, 27 percent, 31 percent, and 35 percent above the highest threshold [SC4]. The 2024 reform restored the regime that had been substantially altered by the 2023 wage-bracket exemptions; the bracket thresholds are now adjusted twice annually (March and September) to track wage indices and inflation, producing materially different effective burdens through the year. Ganancia No Imponible (the personal allowance) and Cargas de Familia (deductions for dependants) reduce the base at thresholds also inflation-adjusted twice yearly. Specific deductions include education expenses, health-insurance contributions, and rental of personal residence under recent reforms.

Investment income — interest, dividends, capital gains — is taxed under specific schedules: dividends from Argentine companies at 7 percent at source; interest on Argentine bank deposits in pesos at progressive personal rates after deductions; capital gains on listed securities at 15 percent under the cedular system [SC5]. The Impuesto sobre los Bienes Personales (Personal Assets Tax) applies on resident-individual net wealth above an inflation-indexed threshold at progressive rates of 0.5 percent to 1.75 percent (with a 0.5 percent surcharge on foreign-located assets unless repatriated under the regime).

How does Argentine corporate tax work?

The corporate income tax — Impuesto a las Ganancias para Personas Jurídicas — operates on a progressive scale tied to accumulated profits under the post-2021 reform. Rates are 25 percent up to ARS 14,310,000 of accumulated profits (inflation-adjusted), 30 percent up to ARS 143,099,999, and 35 percent above [SC4]. Branches of foreign companies are taxed on Argentine-source income at the same progressive scale plus a 7 percent withholding on profit remittances, for a combined effective branch rate that can approach 40 percent. Argentina has not implemented the OECD Pillar Two Global Anti-Base Erosion (GloBE) framework into domestic law as of the most recent legislative cycle [SC5]. The CFC regime under Article 130 of the Ley de Impuesto a las Ganancias and the participation-exemption mechanism for qualifying intra-group dividends operate alongside. Argentina maintains an aggressive transfer-pricing framework with sector-specific safe-harbours.

How does indirect tax work in Argentina?

Value Added Tax — Impuesto al Valor Agregado (IVA) — is the principal federal indirect tax. The standard rate is 21 percent. The reduced rate of 10.5 percent applies to most foodstuffs, public-passenger transport, residential construction, and a number of social-policy supplies. The increased rate of 27 percent applies to telecommunications and specific public-utility supplies for non-final consumers. The 0 percent rate applies to exports of goods and services [SC4]. The mandatory IVA registration threshold is ARS 0 — registration is generally required from the start of taxable activity through the AFIP/ARCA Inscription. The Monotributo small-operator regime exempts qualifying filers from separate IVA registration. Cross-border digital services to Argentine consumers by non-resident vendors are subject to IVA under the digital-services regime in force since 2018. The PAIS Tax (Impuesto Para una Argentina Inclusiva y Solidaria) was a federal levy on foreign-currency purchases and certain dollar-denominated services that was sunset in late 2024 under the Milei government's deregulation programme. Provincial Ingresos Brutos (gross-receipts tax) at varying rates by activity (typically 1–7 percent) operates alongside.

How is crypto taxed in Argentina?

The AFIP (now ARCA) has issued informal and formal guidance treating cryptoassets as financial assets for individual filers. Gains on the disposal of cryptoassets are generally taxed under the cedular capital-gains regime at the 15 percent rate applying to other financial-asset gains, with deductions for cost-basis and inflation-adjusted acquisition cost [SC5]. Receipt of crypto as compensation, mining rewards, staking rewards, or airdrops is taxable as ordinary income at fair market value on receipt. The Régimen de Información Complementaria (RG 4614/2019) requires Argentine financial intermediaries dealing in crypto to report customer balances and transactions to ARCA. The Impuesto sobre los Bienes Personales applies to crypto holdings as part of the resident-individual net-wealth base. The 2024 fiscal-blanqueo (tax-amnesty) regime under Ley 27.743 included specific provisions for the regularisation of cryptoasset holdings at preferential rates with formal terms now closed; practitioners should check the current regularisation regime for any successor programmes.

How does Argentina handle tax treaties?

Argentina maintains a smaller comprehensive Double Taxation Convention network than most major economies — approximately 22 DTCs in force, focused on Argentina's principal trading partners across Latin America, Europe, and Asia [SC5]. Most Argentine treaties follow the UN Model with Argentina-specific reservations on source-taxation rights — reflecting Argentina's traditional position as a source country prioritising source-jurisdiction taxing rights. Argentina signed the OECD Multilateral Instrument and ratified it; the MLI's modifications, including the Principal Purpose Test, apply to many of Argentina's covered DTCs for periods from 2023 onward. The Argentine CFC regime under Article 130 LIG operates alongside. Foreign tax-credit relief is generally claimed under Articles 1 and 168 LIG for both individuals and corporations.

What are the common penalties and pitfalls for foreigners?

Late filing of an Impuesto a las Ganancias return triggers a fine under Article 38 of Law 11.683 (the Procedural Tax Law), with the amount determined by the type of obligation [SC1]. Late payment of tax triggers Recargos (surcharges) and interest at the published monthly rate plus the standard administrative collection mechanism. Penalties for tax-evasion offences under the Régimen Penal Tributario (Law 27.430) range from monetary fines to imprisonment for up to nine years for serious cases, with reductions for cooperative-disclosure procedures.

Common pitfalls for arrivals to Argentina include: assuming the 12-month continuous-presence rule alone determines residency when permanent-residence visa status applies sooner; missing the inflation-adjustment mechanisms when computing tax owed; underestimating the interplay between provincial Ingresos Brutos and federal IVA when conducting business in multiple provinces; and missing the post-AFIP-to-ARCA institutional change implications for legal references. For complex residency, regime-elective, or cross-border scenarios, common approaches discussed by practitioners include consulting a credentialed Contador Público before relying on a single-test conclusion.