What the actions look like: one by one, all the restrictions on paying with a dollar card abroad

The increase from 35 to 45% of the advance of the Income Tax which must be paid at the time of purchases abroad by credit card (which is calculated on the official retail dollar plus the COUNTRY tax of 30%) is one more hurdle that has been placed on the trading trap in the past few days. The latest had been a ban on banks from allowing pay in installments dollar spending in free stores.

How many dollars are required by Argentine men and women to pay for expenses abroad? Andin May, “Travel and other card payments and passenger transport” consumed US $ 616 million, according to the Central Bank. In total in the first 5 months of the year For this reason, 2,625 million dollars went out.

Subsequently, Clarín drew up a list of the 5 measures imposed so far and examined the more recent history of restrictions on the acquisition of foreign currency.

National tax of 30% and increase in withholding tax from 35% to 45%

The tax for an inclusive and supportive Argentina, popularly known as the PAIS tax, is an emergency tax created in 2019 that imposes a 30% surcharge on purchases and expenses in foreign currency.

To that tax, in September 2020, the famous one was added 35% retention on the profit account. Until now, that percentage (plus PAIS tax) was valid for both overseas card purchases and US $ 200 acquisition. But now those two kinds of dollars have been split. The dollar of “solidarity” (official + 30% of PAIS) today is $ 223 and the “paper” (official + 30% of PAIS + 45% of anticipated earnings), today is $ 236, 6% more expensive.

In addition to card purchases on travel, this advance increase also affects services such as Netflix, Spotify, Drive, which are paid for in dollars.

No commission for purchases in the Free Shop

Last week, the Central Bank imposed another ban on banks: cut installment loans in free and duty free shops.

Free in-store purchases, exempt from any type of tax, allowed access to goods that are normally obtained abroad and paid for at the official exchange rate (of $ 135) without adding neither the retention of the advance on personal income tax (now at 45%), nor the PAIS (30%). Until the announcement, this was the cheapest way to dollarize.

In other words, getting an imported product at $ 135 is a strong advantage over the $ 283 you can get the dollar on the street (i.e. blue or the parallel) and the nearly $ 280 companies on the stock exchange.

No door-to-door shopping fees

The week before, Thursday 30 May, the Central Bank had launched another ban: no more door-to-door shipping costs for online purchases.

Through Communication “A” 7535, the ban on banks and non-financial creditors, which can no longer offer commissions on “door-to-door” purchases, has been dropped. made on e-commerce platforms, type TiendaMia. The measure went into effect on Monday 4 July.

The standard includes “products abroad that are received through the postal delivery system without commercial purposes according to the Customs Code, nor by international transport services, couriers and the management of customs procedures”, underline the regulations.

No costs for the sale of tickets, hotels and any other tourist service abroad

At the end of 2021, the BCRA had applied another ban on credit cards for the sale of tickets, hotels or any other tourist service abroad in installments. In this way, any agreed service with external destination payable by credit card must be paid in a single solution or find an alternative to not make the full payment, such as paying the minimum card and then paying a fee of x% . Or ask for a personal loan.

The provision adopted by the body led by Pesce with Communication “A” 7407, which entered into force on Friday 26 November, limits installment financing with credit cards either directly or through travel agencies, web platforms or other intermediaries.

Dollar Saving Restriction: US $ 200 fee

At the end of October 2019, the head of the monetary entity was Guido Sandleris, and the president of La Nación was the then outgoing Mauricio Macri. With the electoral result already defined, Alberto Fernández had won the elections, the Central Bank tightened the shares and limited the purchase for private individuals up to 200 dollars a month. Until then, and after the measures taken after the PASO, the monthly limit for hoarding was US $ 10,000.

The entity also disclosed the accumulation of international reserves at the time “during the transition of government, after the triumph of Alberto Fernández” and in the beginning I would have a transitory character until “December 2019”, as indicated by Communication “A” 6815,

In return for these measures, the Government encourages travel within the country and on the basis of “passages within the national territory” it maintains the benefit of installment payments included, for example, in programs such as Now 12 and the recently relaunched Previaje, which in its version 3 can be used for the negative period of the year (ie for the months of September, October and November).

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