Can I hire an employee in Argentina without a local company?

Last verified: 27 Oct 2026 · Status: Changing

Short answer. Not directly, in practice. ARCA's registration rules give no route for an unregistered foreign company to get a CUIT and become an employer. Your options are an employer of record (a local company that employs the worker for you, with you jointly liable), your own SAS or branch, or a genuine independent contractor.

As of 26 Oct 2026. Rules in force at that date.

Key rules

Employers register with ARCA, which needs a CUIT. Every worker is registered with ARCA (LCT art. 52, as replaced by Law 27.802 art. 20). A company gets its CUIT by showing registration with the corporate registry (ARCA RG 5803/2025 art. 10 and Annex II, point 1.2). The CDI is only for entities with no tax or social security reason to hold a CUIT (art. 19). No provision found lets an unregistered foreign company register as an employer, and none expressly bans it (unconfirmed).
Habitual activity needs registration. A foreign company may perform isolated acts; for habitual activity or a permanent representation it registers a branch (LGS art. 118). To own a local company it registers under art. 123.
Employer of record (EOR). The term appears in no law. Workers are direct employees of whoever registers them, even if hired to be supplied to others. The user company is jointly liable only for labor and social security debts accrued while the worker served it, and can recover them from the employer (LCT art. 29, per Law 27.802 art. 16). Registration by any party is fully effective (Law 24.013 art. 7 bis, added by Law 27.742 art. 83).
Temporary agencies: Decree 342/1992 is repealed. Decree 1694/2006 art. 31 repealed it, and Decree 407/2026 art. 22 (BO 1 Jun 2026) repealed Decree 1694/2006. Under Decree 407/2026 Annex II, an agency is a legal entity whose sole object is supplying staff (art. 2). It registers free and online with the Labor Secretariat, operating 15 business days after filing absent objections (art. 9), and posts a 14,000 UVA guarantee (art. 10). It may supply staff only for temporary needs: absences, leave, occasional peaks, events, urgent repairs or extraordinary needs outside the user's normal business (art. 6). The user is jointly liable for all labor obligations (LCT art. 29 bis).
Open question. A permanent EOR placement fits no art. 6 case. Whether art. 29 alone makes it lawful is not settled in the sources (unconfirmed).
Contractors. Invoiced services no longer trigger the presumption of employment (LCT art. 23, per Law 27.802 art. 13), but real dependence is still employment (art. 21). Law 27.742 art. 99 repealed the worker fines in Law 24.013 arts. 8 to 17; ARCA can still fine ARS 200,000 to 7,500,000 for employing unregistered workers (Law 11.683 art. 40).

What changes the answer

RIFL rate. A qualifying new hire (Law 27.802 art. 157) registered 1 May 2026 to 30 Apr 2027 costs 2% plus 3% instead of 18% for 48 months (art. 159; Decree 315/2026 art. 1). Employers registered from 10 Dec 2025 are capped at 80% of payroll (art. 158; Decree 315/2026 art. 2), so a new SAS with one employee may not qualify (unconfirmed).
Directors. At least one SAS administrator must live in Argentina; foreign ones need a CDI and local representative (Law 27.349 art. 51).

Worked examples

One employee at ARS 3,000,000 gross a month. Pesos at dólar MEP ARS 1,563.90 per US$ on 23 Oct 2026, the rate (dólar MEP selling rate (dolarapi.com)) (unconfirmed) (live rate). Monthly = annual cost ÷ 12, SAC (13th salary) included.

Item	Time	Own SAS: ARS	Own SAS: USD	EOR: ARS	EOR: USD
Gross salary	Monthly	3,000,000.00	1,918.28	3,000,000.00	1,918.28
SAC accrual (1/12)	Jun, Dec	250,000.00	159.86	250,000.00	159.86
Unified employer contribution	Monthly	581,834.28	372.04	661,452.19	422.95
Health insurance 6%	Monthly	195,000.00	124.69	195,000.00	124.69
ART at 2.97% (unconfirmed)	Monthly	96,525.00	61.72	96,525.00	61.72
EOR fee, assumed US$ 500 (unconfirmed)	Monthly	0	0	781,950.00	500.00
Total per month		4,123,359.28	2,636.59	4,984,927.19	3,187.50

Step by step:

Own SAS, 18% (Law 27.541 art. 19(b)). Base: 3,000,000 minus 7,003.68 (art. 22) minus 10,000 for payrolls up to 25 staff (art. 23) = 2,982,996.32; at 18%, 536,939.34 a month. Each SAC half: (1,500,000 minus 3,501.84) × 18% = 269,369.67. Year: 6,982,011.39, so 581,834.28 a month.
EOR, 20.40% assumed, as a large services company with over 25 staff (art. 19(a), no art. 23 deduction) (unconfirmed). Year: 7,937,426.24, so 661,452.19 a month.
Health and ART. 6% of 39,000,000 a year (Law 23.660 art. 16) = 2,340,000. ART at 2.97%, the regulator's July 2018 average, illustration only = 1,158,300.
EOR fee. No official source publishes EOR fees; US$ 500 is a placeholder, not a market figure (unconfirmed). A local client pays 21% VAT on the whole invoice. For a foreign client, services used abroad may count as exports (VAT Law art. 1(b), art. 43) (unconfirmed).
Difference. EOR costs ARS 861,567.91 (US$ 550.91) more a month, about ARS 10.3 million (US$ 6,611) a year, before the SAS's own accounting and payroll costs (unconfirmed).

Cost to do it (own SAS, CABA): capital 2 × SMVM of ARS 398,800 = ARS 797,600 (US$ 510.01) (Law 27.349 art. 40; CNEPSMVM Res. 4/2026 art. 1(c)), 25% (ARS 199,400, US$ 127.50) paid at signing (art. 41). Registering the foreign parent under LGS art. 123: 96 módulos × ARS 1,500 = ARS 144,000 (US$ 92.08). SAS filing fee, gazette notice, apostilles and translations (unconfirmed). About 2 to 4 months with a foreign corporate shareholder (unconfirmed). An EOR needs no capital or filing.

Practical traps

Thinking the EOR takes all the risk. You remain jointly liable for what accrues while the worker serves you (art. 29), or for everything with an agency (art. 29 bis).
Labeling a dependent worker a contractor. Invoices remove the presumption, not the worker's right to prove dependence.
Citing Decree 342/1992 or 1694/2006. Both are repealed.

FAQ

Can the parent pay the salary from abroad? Only a registered employer files payroll returns and pays contributions, so the worker would be unregistered (unconfirmed).

How long can a worker claim? Two years from when each credit fell due (LCT art. 256).

Branch or SAS? A branch is the foreign company itself, so liabilities reach the parent; an SAS limits them to its capital. IGJ charges 96 módulos for either art. 118 or art. 123 registration.

Published 27 Oct 2026 from our research draft. Points marked (unconfirmed) have not yet been checked against the official text; rely on the primary sources linked below.