What taxes and costs do you pay when buying property in Argentina?

Last verified: 27 Oct 2026 · Status: Changing

Short answer. The main cost is provincial stamp tax on the deed. In Buenos Aires City it is 3.5%, or 2.7% up to ARS 226.1 million, and in Buenos Aires Province 2%. Buyers also pay the notary plus 21% VAT and registry fees. The national 1.5% transfer tax was repealed in 2024. Afterwards come yearly property taxes and personal assets tax.

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

Key rules

Stamp tax, Buenos Aires City (CABA). The base is the highest of the price, the fiscal value (VFH) and AGIP's reference value (VIR) (CABA Tax Code T.O. 2026 art. 325). The rate is 3.5%, or 2.7% when that highest value is ARS 226,100,000 or less (Law 6.927 Annex art. 34). It is a cliff, not a band. All parties are jointly liable (Code art. 357). The notary collects it (Code art. 362) and pays by the 10th of the next month (AGIP). The 50/50 split between buyer and seller is custom, not law (unconfirmed).

Single home exemption, CABA. A buyer's single, family, permanent home that is each buyer's only property is exempt if the highest value is ARS 226,100,000 or less. Above that, tax is due on the excess (Code art. 365(1); Law 6.927 Annex art. 37). The buyer proves it with a City Property Registry certificate. If one party is exempt, the exemption covers only that party's share (Code art. 358). How that applies to the seller's half is unsettled (unconfirmed).

Stamp tax, Buenos Aires Province (PBA). 2% on deeds of sale (20 por mil) and 1.2% on boletos (Law 15.558 art. 39(B)(1) and (5)(a)). The base is the higher of the price and the fiscal valuation × 24.8370 (PBA Tax Code, Law 10.397 art. 263; Law 15.558 art. 41). A single permanent home is exempt only if its fiscal valuation is at most ARS 1,154,400, with no rule taxing just the excess (Code art. 297(29)(a); Law 15.558 art. 43).

Registry and notary. The CABA Property Registry charges 1 per mil of the operation amount (Decree 1487/1986 art. 2, as replaced by Decree 902/2024), plus forms priced in modules of ARS 300 from 3 Aug 2026 (Disp. DGRPICF 6/2026 arts. 1, 8, Annex I). PBA charges 4 per mil per registration (Law 15.558 art. 59) plus a special 2 per mil fee, minimum ARS 42,000 (Law 10.295 art. 3 as replaced by Law 15.558 art. 73). No official notary fee scale was found in force. The fee is agreed, plus 21% VAT (unconfirmed).

National taxes. The 1.5% transfer tax (ITI) was repealed from 8 Jul 2024 (Law 27.743 art. 67). The 15% schedular tax on individuals' gains (Income Tax Law art. 99) no longer applies to sales from 1 Jan 2026, for residents and non residents (Law 27.802 art. 192; Decree 406/2026 art. 2).

After the purchase. CABA bills Impuesto Inmobiliario (0.60% to 1.20% marginal on the VFH) and ABL (VFH × 0.80% × a neighbourhood factor) in 12 instalments, capped at 1% of market value a year (Law 6.927 Annex arts. 41, 42, 45). PBA charges impuesto inmobiliario at 0.028% to 2.363% (Law 15.558 art. 6), plus municipal fees (unconfirmed). Personal assets tax: a non resident individual pays 0.50% of value at 31 December through a local substitute payer, doubled to 1.00% for idle or rented property owned directly by a foreign company (Law 23.966 art. 26).

What changes the answer

It is your only home. The first ARS 226,100,000 is exempt. Here tax on the excess is (234,585,000 − 226,100,000) × 3.5% = ARS 296,975 (US$189.89), if 3.5% applies to the excess (unconfirmed).
Price at or below ARS 226,100,000 (US$144,574). The whole base pays 2.7%.
Province. In PBA the deed rate is 2%, with 4 per mil plus 2 per mil registry fees.
Buyer is a foreign company. Personal assets doubles to 1.00% on idle or rented property (Law 23.966 art. 26).

Worked examples

A non resident individual buys a CABA flat for US$150,000 cash, not as a home. The price is assumed to be the highest of price, VFH and VIR. Pesos at dólar MEP ARS 1,563.90 per US$ on 23 Oct 2026, the rate given in some secondary summaries (unconfirmed) (/data/mep/).

Item	Time	Cost ARS	Cost USD
Stamp tax, buyer's customary half of 3.5%	Notary pays by 10th of next month	4,105,237.50	2,625.00
Notary fee (assumed 1% of price, not sourced)	At signing	2,345,850.00	1,500.00
VAT on notary fee, 21%	At signing	492,628.50	315.00
Registry fee, 1 per mil	At filing	234,585.00	150.00
Registration form, 50 modules	At filing	15,000.00	9.59
Title certificate (40) and 2 inhibition certificates (10 each)	Before the deed (unconfirmed)	18,000.00	11.51
Buyer total		7,211,301.00	4,611.10

Price: 150,000 × 1,563.90 = ARS 234,585,000. Above ARS 226,100,000, so 3.5% applies to all of it.
Stamp tax: 234,585,000 × 3.5% = ARS 8,210,475 (US$5,250). Buyer's half: ARS 4,105,237.50.
Registry: 234,585,000 / 1,000 = 234,585. Modules: (50 + 40 + 10 + 10) × 300 = 33,000. Who pays which certificate is custom (unconfirmed).
Notary: 1% × 234,585,000 = 2,345,850, plus 21% VAT of 492,628.50.

Cost to do it: about ARS 7.21 million (US$4,611, 3.1% of price) on top of the price, plus broker commission if any. The buyer is jointly liable for the full ARS 8.21 million stamp tax. Allow weeks from offer to deed (unconfirmed). Afterwards: personal assets tax of up to ARS 1,172,925 (US$750) a year at cost value, before depreciation (Law 23.966 arts. 22(a), 26), plus the City bill, which depends on the VFH.

Practical traps

The VIR can set the tax. A low declared price does not lower the base (Code art. 325).
A non resident seller slows the deed. Their representative applies to ARCA for a withholding certificate at least 20 calendar days before the deed (AFIP RG 2139/2006 arts. 20, 27). RG 2139 has not been updated for the 2026 exemption, so practice for exempt individual sellers is unclear (unconfirmed).
Debt certificates expire. A CABA deed needs certificates of no City tax debt, valid only in their month of issue (Code art. 96).

FAQ

Do foreigners pay more tax to buy? No. Neither the CABA Code nor Law 6.927 sets a different rate for non residents. The difference comes later, in personal assets tax.

Does the seller pay income tax? Individuals, resident or not, are exempt on sales from 1 Jan 2026 (Decree 406/2026 art. 2). Companies are still taxed (Income Tax Law arts. 102 to 104).

Does a boleto pay stamp tax too? Yes. In CABA it is credited against the deed tax if the notary records the payment and the deed follows within 120 days, or the same buyer signs both (Code art. 334). PBA charges 1.2%.

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.