In Argentina, the body that administers and collects investment taxes is ARCA (Agencia de Recaudación y Control Aduanero), a name that replaced the historic AFIP at the end of 2024. The main tax affecting investment returns is the Impuesto a las Ganancias (income tax).
The 2017 tax reform (Ley 27.430) introduced the 'cedular system' for passive financial income of individuals. Rather than pooling all returns and applying the general progressive scale (which can reach 35%, as with salary), passive financial income would be taxed at flat, separate rates depending on the type of instrument and the currency.
How the main financial returns are taxed today:
- 7%: dividends distributed by Argentine companies (definitive withholding by the company)
- 15%: in general, gains on cryptocurrencies and the sale of foreign shares or bonds outside Argentine markets (5% on some peso transactions without adjustment)
- Exempt: interest on term deposits (in pesos and, since 2026, in dollars), publicly offered ONs (in pesos and in dollars), shares on BYMA, CEDEARs (capital gains), and sovereign bonds
In addition to Impuesto a las Ganancias, the Argentine investor would need to know the Impuesto sobre los Bienes Personales, which taxes net worth on 31 December each year. Unlike Ganancias (which taxes returns), Bienes Personales taxes the mere holding of assets.
If you receive $500 in dividends from an Argentine company, the company would withhold 7% ($35) and credit you $465 net. If instead you have a peso term deposit generating $10.000 in interest, there would be no withholding: interest on peso term deposits is exempt.