Stamp tax (Impuesto de Sellos) in Argentina

Key rules

A. Constitutional and federal framework

1. Provinces own the tax. Argentina's federal tax sharing system (Law 23.548, a "transitional" regime in force since 1 January 1988) requires each adhering province to refrain from levying local taxes "analogous" to the shared national taxes (LCF art. 9(b), first paragraph). The same inciso expressly excludes from that ban the provincial taxes on real property, gross income, motor vehicles, stamps (sellos) and free transfer of assets (LCF art. 9(b), third paragraph). Stamp tax is one of the few taxes that provinces may keep, provided it follows the "basic characteristics" in LCF art. 9(b)(2).
2. What the tax may fall on (LCF art. 9(b)(2), first paragraph):
3. onerous acts, contracts and operations that are instrumented;
4. onerous contracts formalised by correspondence;
5. monetary operations representing deliveries or receipts of money that accrue interest, carried out by financial entities governed by Law 21.526.
6. Definition of instrument (LCF art. 9(b)(2), second paragraph): "any deed, paper or document from which the perfection of the acts, contracts and operations... arises, so that it has the external features of a legal title by which performance of the obligations can be demanded without the need for another document and regardless of the acts that the taxpayers actually carry out". Provincial codes reproduce this definition (unconfirmed).
7. Territoriality (LCF art. 9(b)(2), third paragraph): tax applies "both in the case of agreements made in the respective jurisdiction and in the case of those which, made in others, must have effects in it". This includes places of national public interest or utility (ports, airports, railway stations, mining sites) located in the province, as long as the tax does not interfere with that interest or utility.
8. Double taxation inside Argentina (LCF art. 9(b)(2), fourth paragraph): when operations agreed in one jurisdiction are to be performed in one or more others, "the Nation and the provinces shall incorporate in their respective laws clauses that contemplate and avoid double internal taxation". This is the origin of the apportionment and credit rules in provincial codes (unconfirmed).
9. Neutrality on domicile (CF 2017, clause III(i); repeated in CF 2021, clause THIRD (a)): provinces agreed not to apply different treatment based on the domicile of the parties, the place of performance or the official who intervenes (for example, a notary from another province).

B. The national stamp tax and ARCA

1. Law 23.905 (BO 18 February 1991). Title III, "Modification of the Stamp Tax", added inciso r) to art. 58 of the Stamp Tax Law t.o. 1986: documents that instrument or result from operations taxed by the then tax on purchases, sales or exchange of foreign currency, including provisional bills and BCRA documentation for import and export financing, are exempt (Law 23.905 art. 3). Art. 25 exempts from the "national stamp tax" contracts concluded for international donor projects. The same law was a broad tax package (Title I bank debits, Title IV assets, etc.). Its Title VII (arts. 7 to 18) was repealed by Law 27.743 art. 67 (BO 8 July 2024), which does not touch the stamp tax provisions.
2. Law 11.683, art. 112. The LPT lists the taxes ARCA applies. It states that "the application of the Stamp Taxes... shall be governed by the respective laws", that ARCA's Administrator exercises the functions under arts. 7, 8 and 9(1)(a) and (b) of Decree 618/97 in relation to them, and that the LPT verification powers apply.
3. Status. The full text of the Stamp Tax Law t.o. 1986 is not in the source files, and no Infoleg text was found for it.

C. Taxable instruments

Provincial codes tax every onerous act, contract or operation instrumented within the LCF definition, and the annual law then sets a rate or fixed amount for each class. The classes commonly listed are below. The specific CABA and PBA articles are (unconfirmed).

D. The "instrumentation" concept in detail

The provincial codes, following LCF art. 9(b)(2), build the taxable event on three tests. All three must be met.

1. Onerous. Free acts (donations, gratuitous loans) are outside this tax. They may be caught by a provincial tax on free transfers where one exists (unconfirmed).
2. Instrumented. There must be a document. Under LCF art. 9(b)(2) that document must show the perfection of the contract and be self sufficient: performance can be demanded from it alone. A draft, a term sheet stating that it is not binding, a letter of intent that leaves essential terms open, or an unsigned invoice do not usually meet the test. A signed contract that refers to general conditions in an annex still meets it if the annex is part of the instrument.
3. Regardless of actual performance. The tax is due even if the contract is later terminated, never performed or declared void. Many codes add that later nullity does not give a right to a refund, except in narrow cases (unconfirmed).

Each instrument is taxed separately. Copies, counterparts and duplicates are generally not taxed again if the original paid, but amendments that increase the value, extensions of term and new instruments are taxed on the increase or the new value (unconfirmed).

Electronic instruments. Contracts signed with digital signature, and in some jurisdictions with electronic signature, are treated as instruments. CABA and PBA have specific rules on electronic documents and on how the tax applies to them (unconfirmed). Do not assume that a contract "clicked" online is automatically outside the tax.

E. Contracts by correspondence and offer and acceptance planning

LCF art. 9(b)(2) expressly allows provinces to tax onerous contracts formalised by correspondence. Provincial codes typically treat a contract concluded by exchange of letters, emails or telegrams as an instrument when the acceptance reproduces the offer or its essential terms, or when the offer bears the signature of the accepting party (unconfirmed).

This is the legal basis for the widespread offer and acceptance technique (oferta y aceptación):

1. One party sends a detailed, signed offer (often called oferta or propuesta) containing all the terms.
2. The other party accepts without signing the offer and without reproducing its terms. Acceptance is shown by conduct: issuing a purchase order with only a reference number, making a payment, starting performance, or sending a short note that does not restate the terms.
3. Because no single document signed by both parties contains the whole contract, the offer alone is not a self sufficient legal title against the offeror's counterparty, and the correspondence rule (which typically requires reproduction of terms or the acceptor's signature) is not triggered.

Limits of the technique (unconfirmed):

• If the acceptance letter restates the essential terms, or the acceptor countersigns the offer, the tax applies.
• Later documents can create the instrument: a signed amendment, a recognition of debt, a signed delivery note that restates price and quantity, or a court filing in which the offer and acceptance are presented together may be taxed. Some codes tax the instrument when it is presented to a public authority or court (unconfirmed).
• Local agencies challenge structures in which the "acceptance" is a formality and the parties in substance exchange signed copies. The economic reality principle in provincial codes applies (unconfirmed).
• The technique gives up the evidential comfort of a single signed contract. That is a commercial and litigation risk, not a tax one, and should be weighed by counsel.

F. Territoriality: instruments signed abroad or in another province

Under LCF art. 9(b)(2) a province can tax instruments signed outside it when they "must have effects" in it. Provincial codes develop this as follows (unconfirmed):

• Signed in the province: taxed in the province, subject to the rules for instruments with effects in several jurisdictions.
• Signed abroad: taxed when the instrument has effects in the province. Codes usually define "effects" as acceptance, protest, negotiation, demand for performance or performance in the province, and sometimes registration or presentation to an authority (unconfirmed). Real estate located in the province or goods delivered there are typical cases.
• Signed in another Argentine province: taxed when it has effects in the province, with the anti double taxation clauses that LCF art. 9(b)(2), fourth paragraph, requires. In practice this usually means either apportionment by the place of performance or location of goods, or a credit for tax paid in the province of signature (unconfirmed).

Timing for foreign instruments. The deadline to pay usually runs not from signature abroad but from the moment the instrument produces its first effect in the province (for example, when it enters the country or is presented locally) (unconfirmed).

Practical consequence for foreign investors. Signing a contract in New York or Montevideo does not avoid Argentine stamp tax if the contract is to be performed in Buenos Aires. It may only change the date when the tax becomes due.

G. Base and rates

• Base. The tax is generally proportional to the economic value of the instrument: price, total rent for the full term, total fees, loan principal, or the fiscal valuation of real estate if higher than the price (unconfirmed). For contracts of indeterminate value, codes provide estimation rules or fixed amounts (unconfirmed). For contracts with automatic renewals or indeterminate term, codes often compute a set number of years (unconfirmed).
• Foreign currency. Values in foreign currency are converted to pesos at an official exchange rate on a specified date.
• Rates. Set annually by the Ley Tarifaria (CABA) or Ley Impositiva (PBA). See the rates table below. some secondary summaries reports a 1% general rate in CABA and 3.5% for real estate transfers (unconfirmed).
• Caps. CF 2021 clause THIRD (c): 3.5% real estate, 3% motor vehicles, 2% all other acts. Clause THIRD (b): no increase of rates on acts and contracts reaching hydrocarbon activities and their complementary services. Clause THIRD (d): no cap on lotteries and gambling.

H. Exemptions

Exemptions come from three layers:

1. Federal law and Consensus commitments. Law 27.264 art. 55 (as replaced by Law 27.440 art. 199, BO 11 May 2018), headed "Pagaré Bursátil. Impuesto de sellos", invites provinces that do not yet have it to exempt from stamp tax negotiable securities with public offering. Law 23.905 art. 3 and art. 25 contain exemptions from the national stamp tax only.
2. Subjective exemptions in provincial codes: the national, provincial and municipal State and their agencies (not usually state companies), religious bodies, non profit entities, cooperatives in certain acts, and others (unconfirmed). When one party is exempt, the tax on the non exempt party's share remains due (unconfirmed).
3. Objective exemptions in provincial codes and annual laws. Common examples, all (unconfirmed) for CABA and PBA in 2026:
4. purchase of a single, permanent family home up to a value threshold fixed each year in the annual law (in CABA, some secondary summaries refers to housing exemptions; check whether the exemption covers the whole price or only the part up to the threshold, and whether the buyer's share alone is exempt);
5. mortgages securing loans to buy, build or extend a single family home;
6. residential lease contracts (some jurisdictions);
7. labour contracts;
8. incorporation of companies, capital contributions and increases, and transfers in corporate reorganisations;
9. instruments related to exports;
10. public offering securities and related guarantees (following Law 27.264 art. 55);
11. financial operations of specific types (savings deposits, interbank, etc.);
12. acts already taxed in the province in a prior instrument (for example, a deed of sale after a taxed boleto, with a credit for the tax already paid).

I. Who pays: taxpayers, joint liability and agents

Following the general scheme of provincial codes (unconfirmed):

• Taxpayers are those who sign the instrument (the parties). In operations of financial entities, the customer is the taxpayer and the entity collects.
• Joint and several liability. All parties are jointly liable for the full tax, fines and interest. A clause allocating the tax 50/50 or to one party only works between the parties. It does not bind the tax agency.
• Exempt party. If one party is exempt, the others pay their proportional share only, not the exempt party's share (unconfirmed).
• Agents. Notaries (escribanos) for deeds, banks and financial entities for their operations, insurers for policies, and some public bodies and large companies designated as collection agents (unconfirmed).
• Endorsers and holders. Whoever presents an untaxed instrument for performance may become liable (unconfirmed).

J. Deadlines and payment

The provincial codes set a fixed term, counted from the date of the instrument or from its first effect in the jurisdiction, within which the tax must be paid. They also provide for higher fines when the tax is paid late, and sometimes for doubled tax in cases of omission (unconfirmed). Payment is usually made online through the local tax agency's system by generating a payment form, by the notary in the case of deeds, or by withholding by the bank in the case of financial operations (unconfirmed).

K. Consensus commitments

Binding effect. CF 2017 required commitments to be fulfilled before 31 December 2019 unless another term was set (CF 2017, section IV, "Plazo supletorio de cumplimiento"). CF 2021 takes effect for each jurisdiction whose legislature approves it, from that date, and stays open for adhesion (CF 2021, clause SEVENTEENTH). Whether CABA and PBA signed and ratified each Consensus must be checked (unconfirmed).

Step by step

This procedure applies to any business or individual who signs a contract with an Argentine element. It is written for CABA and PBA, but the logic is the same in every province.

Step 1. Decide whether there is an instrument. Ask: is there one document, or a set of documents signed together, from which the other party could demand performance without anything else (LCF art. 9(b)(2), second paragraph)? If the deal is closed by offer and acceptance, check that the acceptance neither reproduces the offer nor bears a countersignature (section E). If there is no instrument, there is no stamp tax, but keep a file note explaining why.

Step 2. Decide whether the deal is onerous. Free acts are outside this tax.

Step 3. Map the jurisdictions. List where the instrument was signed and where it has effects: where goods are delivered, services performed, property located, payment demanded or the document presented (LCF art. 9(b)(2), third paragraph). For each jurisdiction with effects, check its code. If more than one province is involved, apply the anti double taxation rules of each code (LCF art. 9(b)(2), fourth paragraph) (unconfirmed).

Step 4. Classify the instrument (sale of real estate, lease, services, loan, etc.) and find the rate or fixed amount in the current annual law of each jurisdiction (CABA Ley Tarifaria, PBA Ley Impositiva) (unconfirmed).

Step 5. Compute the base. Total economic value for the whole term, including fixed renewals as the code requires; fiscal valuation if higher for real estate; peso conversion for foreign currency at the rate and date the code specifies (unconfirmed).

Step 6. Check exemptions for each party and for the instrument (section H). If one party is exempt, compute only the non exempt share.

Step 7. Agree who bears the tax in the contract, knowing that all parties remain jointly liable to the agency. Specify who files and pays, and require proof of payment.

Step 8. Pay within the deadline. Generate the payment through the local tax agency's online system, or have the notary or bank collect when they are agents (unconfirmed). For instruments signed abroad, track the date of first local effect.

Step 9. Keep evidence. File the payment receipt with the original instrument. Agencies, courts and registries may ask for proof that the instrument paid stamp tax (unconfirmed).

Step 10. Monitor amendments. Extensions, price increases and new guarantees can be new taxable instruments.

Cost and time. The time required is mainly legal analysis. Payment itself is online for most taxpayers (unconfirmed). There is no federal form; ARCA does not collect the provincial tax.

Costs and timelines

Table 1. Rates (2026)

Table 2. Thresholds and values to check each year

No peso threshold appears in the primary sources available for this page, so no figure is given.

Table 3. Deadlines

Table 4. Timeline of national norms

Worked examples

All rates used below come from some secondary summaries (CABA 1% general, 3.5% real estate) (unconfirmed) or are explicitly labelled as hypothetical figures used only for the arithmetic. Check every rate against the 2026 annual law before relying on these numbers.

Example 1. Services agreement signed in CABA

Facts. A foreign software company's Argentine subsidiary (an SRL in CABA) signs a 24 month IT services agreement with a CABA client. Monthly fee: ARS 5,000,000. Both parties sign one document in CABA. Neither party is exempt. The contract says the stamp tax is borne 50/50.

Step 1. Instrument? Yes. A single signed contract, enforceable on its own (LCF art. 9(b)(2)).

Step 2. Base. Total value for the full term: ARS 5,000,000 × 24 = ARS 120,000,000 (US$76,731.25).

Step 3. Rate. CABA general rate 1% (dólar MEP selling rate (dolarapi.com)) (unconfirmed). Within the CF 2021 cap of 2%.

Step 4. Tax. ARS 120,000,000 × 1% = ARS 1,200,000 (US$767.31).

Step 5. Allocation between parties. 50/50 under the contract: ARS 600,000 each (US$383.66). But both parties are jointly liable for the full ARS 1,200,000 if the other party fails to pay (unconfirmed).

Step 6. Sensitivity. If the rate were at the CF 2021 cap of 2%, the tax would be ARS 2,400,000 (US$1,534.62). If the price were indexed (for example, quarterly adjustments), the code's rule for contracts of variable value applies (unconfirmed). A common approach is to tax the initial value and then tax increases when they are instrumented, but this must be checked.

Step 7. Planning alternative. If the subsidiary had sent a signed offer and the client had accepted by issuing a purchase order that only cites the offer number, there may be no instrument (section E) (unconfirmed). Saving: up to ARS 1,200,000 (US$767.31).

Example 2. Purchase of an apartment in CABA by an expat

Facts. An expat buys an apartment in CABA as their sole home. Price in the deed: ARS 300,000,000 (US$191,828.12). The fiscal valuation is lower than the price. The seller is an individual. Custom is to share the tax 50/50.

Step 1. Instrument. The deed of sale (escritura) is an instrument; the notary acts as collection agent (unconfirmed).

Step 2. Base. Price ARS 300,000,000, since it exceeds the fiscal valuation (unconfirmed).

Step 3. Rate. 3.5% (dólar MEP selling rate (dolarapi.com)) (unconfirmed). Equal to the CF 2021 cap.

Step 4. Tax without exemption. ARS 300,000,000 × 3.5% = ARS 10,500,000 (US$6,713.98). Each party's 50% share: ARS 5,250,000 (US$3,356.99).

Step 5. Housing exemption, two possible designs. The CABA exemption for sole family homes has a ceiling set in the Ley Tarifaria (unconfirmed). The source files do not include it, so assume, for arithmetic only, a hypothetical ceiling of ARS 200,000,000 (not the real figure).

• Design A: excess only is taxed. Taxable excess: ARS 300,000,000 minus ARS 200,000,000 = ARS 100,000,000. Tax: ARS 100,000,000 × 3.5% = ARS 3,500,000 (US$2,237.99).
• Design B: exemption lost entirely if the price exceeds the ceiling. Tax: ARS 10,500,000 (US$6,713.98).
• Exemption covering only the buyer's share. If the exemption applies only to the buyer's half, the seller still pays its 50%: ARS 5,250,000 (US$3,356.99), and the buyer's share is reduced or eliminated under Design A or B (unconfirmed).

Step 6. Prior boleto. If a boleto de compraventa was signed earlier and paid stamp tax, the deed usually gets a credit for tax already paid (unconfirmed).

Lesson. The difference between designs is ARS 7,000,000 (US$4,475.99) on this deal. The buyer should ask the notary for the computation and the legal basis before signing.

Example 3. Supply contract: signed agreement vs offer and acceptance

Facts. A PBA manufacturer agrees to supply components to a CABA distributor for one year. Expected value: ARS 80,000,000 (US$51,154.17). Delivery in PBA (ex works).

Option A: one signed contract, executed in CABA.

• Instrument signed in CABA with effects in PBA (delivery). Both jurisdictions may claim, subject to their anti double taxation rules (LCF art. 9(b)(2), fourth paragraph).
• CABA tax at 1% (dólar MEP selling rate (dolarapi.com)) (unconfirmed): ARS 80,000,000 × 1% = ARS 800,000 (US$511.54).
• PBA tax at a rate of r%, with any credit or apportionment for the CABA tax (unconfirmed). If, hypothetically, PBA also charged 1% with no relief, total tax would be ARS 1,600,000 (US$1,023.08). This is the result that the double taxation clauses are meant to prevent.

Option B: offer and acceptance.

• The manufacturer sends a signed offer with all terms. The distributor accepts by issuing purchase orders citing only the offer number and by paying invoices.
• If neither code treats this as a taxable contract by correspondence (no reproduction of terms, no countersignature) (unconfirmed), there is no instrument and no stamp tax. Saving: ARS 800,000 (US$511.54) or more.
• Risks: any later document that restates the terms and is signed by both, or a signed framework amendment, may become the taxable instrument. In litigation, presenting the offer and acceptance together may trigger the tax with fines (unconfirmed).

Example 4. Equipment lease signed in Montevideo with effects in CABA and PBA

Facts. A Uruguayan lessor and an Argentine lessee sign in Montevideo a 36 month lease of construction equipment. Total rent: ARS 250,000,000 (US$159,856.77), stated in pesos for simplicity. The equipment is used 40% in CABA and 60% in PBA, as set out in the contract.

Step 1. Territoriality. Signed abroad, but with effects in CABA and PBA (use and payment). Both may tax under LCF art. 9(b)(2), third paragraph.

Step 2. Apportionment. Assume, as an illustration, that both codes apportion by the place where the contract has effects (unconfirmed):

• CABA share: ARS 250,000,000 × 40% = ARS 100,000,000. At 1% (dólar MEP selling rate (dolarapi.com)) (unconfirmed): ARS 1,000,000 (US$639.43).
• PBA share: ARS 250,000,000 × 60% = ARS 150,000,000. At a hypothetical 1% for arithmetic only: ARS 1,500,000 (US$959.14).
• Total: ARS 2,500,000 (US$1,598.57), equal to 1% of the whole value. Without apportionment, each jurisdiction taxing 100% would give ARS 5,000,000 (US$3,197.14).

Step 3. Timing. The deadline in each jurisdiction runs from the first local effect (for example, entry of the contract into the country or first payment), not from signature in Montevideo (unconfirmed).

Step 4. Who pays. The Uruguayan lessor is jointly liable even if the contract puts the tax on the lessee (unconfirmed). Lessors typically require a tax indemnity.

Practical traps

1. Assuming the tax was abolished. CF 2017 promised elimination of the general rate by 2022, but that was postponed (CF 2018), suspended (CF 2019, CF 2020) and finally replaced by caps (CF 2021 cl. THIRD, SIXTEENTH). Old articles and memos stating "stamp tax was eliminated in 2022" are wrong.
2. Signing abroad as a "solution". LCF art. 9(b)(2) lets provinces tax foreign instruments with local effects. Signing abroad usually only defers the due date.
3. Clauses that put the tax on the other party. They do not limit your liability to the agency. Joint liability means the agency can claim from you (unconfirmed).
4. Countersigning the offer. The most common way to destroy an offer and acceptance structure is a well intentioned "accepted and agreed" signature on the offer, or an acceptance email that copies the terms (unconfirmed).
5. Forgetting the full term. The base is usually the total value for the whole term, including fixed extensions, not one year's value (unconfirmed).
6. Indeterminate or renewable contracts. Codes deem a number of years (unconfirmed). Evergreen contracts can produce a larger base than expected.
7. Foreign currency contracts. Conversion rate and date are set by each code (unconfirmed). With a large gap between official and market rates, the choice matters.
8. Amendments. Price increases or extensions in a signed amendment are new taxable instruments (unconfirmed).
9. Exempt counterparty. Contracting with the State does not make the contract exempt; the private party's share is due (unconfirmed).
10. Instruments used in court. Presenting an untaxed instrument to a court or a public registry can trigger the tax, fines and interest (unconfirmed).
11. Housing exemption thresholds. They are updated every year in the annual law. An exemption valid when the boleto was signed may not cover the deed months later (unconfirmed).
12. Corporate transactions. Share purchase agreements, shareholder loans and guarantees can be taxed even when the incorporation itself was exempt (unconfirmed).
13. Financial operations. The bank collects the tax on interest bearing operations (LCF art. 9(b)(2)). Check the loan pricing and the agent's statements.
14. Confusing national and provincial tax. Exemptions in Law 23.905 apply to the national stamp tax only. They do not exempt anything from CABA or PBA stamp tax.

Recent changes

Pending changes

• Further Consensus agreements. No Fiscal Consensus approved by national law after Law 27.687 appears in the source files (unconfirmed).
• Reform of federal tax sharing. Law 23.548 remains a "transitional" regime. Any new tax sharing law could change the basic features in art. 9(b)(2) (unconfirmed).
• National stamp tax. Its formal repeal or current scope is unclear from the sources (unconfirmed).
• CABA and PBA 2027 annual laws. Draft 2027 Ley Tarifaria and Ley Impositiva are typically debated in the last months of the year.

FAQ

1. Is stamp tax a national or a provincial tax? Provincial. Each province and CABA levies it under its own Fiscal Code and annual tax law. The federal tax sharing law allows provinces to keep it, provided it follows the features in LCF art. 9(b)(2). A national Stamp Tax Law (t.o. 1986) exists and was amended by Law 23.905 art. 3, but its present scope is limited (unconfirmed).

2. What exactly triggers the tax? Signing an onerous contract in a document that is enough, by itself, to demand performance (LCF art. 9(b)(2), first and second paragraphs). Contracts concluded by correspondence and interest bearing operations of financial entities are also covered. The tax is due regardless of whether the contract is performed.

3. If I sign a contract outside Argentina, do I pay stamp tax? Possibly. A province may tax instruments signed elsewhere, including abroad, that "must have effects" in it (LCF art. 9(b)(2), third paragraph). Performance, payment, presentation or registration in the province are typical effects (unconfirmed). Signing abroad usually changes only the starting date of the payment deadline.

4. What is the rate? It depends on the jurisdiction and the type of instrument. some secondary summaries reports 1% general and 3.5% for real estate transfers in CABA (unconfirmed). The provinces that approved CF 2021 agreed to maximums of 3.5% for real estate, 3% for motor vehicles and 2% for other acts (CF 2021 cl. THIRD (c)).

5. Who has to pay: buyer or seller, client or supplier? All parties are jointly liable for the full tax under the provincial codes (unconfirmed). The contract can allocate the cost, often 50/50, but that allocation only binds the parties. If one party is exempt, the others pay their share (unconfirmed).

6. Does the offer and acceptance method really avoid the tax? It can, if the acceptance does not reproduce the offer's terms and the acceptor does not sign the offer, because then there is no single self sufficient instrument (unconfirmed). It is a legitimate structure widely used in Argentina, but it must be implemented carefully, and later documents can trigger the tax.

7. Are electronic contracts taxed? Yes, if they meet the instrument test. CABA and PBA have provisions on documents signed digitally or electronically (unconfirmed). Do not assume that online contracting is outside the tax.

8. Is buying a home exempt? Often partly. CABA and PBA exempt the purchase of a sole family home up to a value ceiling set each year (unconfirmed). See Example 2 for how much the design matters.

9. Was stamp tax supposed to disappear in 2022? Yes, for general acts and contracts, under CF 2017 cl. III(k). That schedule was postponed by CF 2018, suspended by CF 2019 and CF 2020, and released by CF 2021 cl. SIXTEENTH, which instead set caps. Stamp tax remains in force in 2026.

10. Does ARCA collect stamp tax? Not the provincial tax. LPT art. 112 refers to the stamp tax being governed by its own laws, with ARCA's verification powers applying. That relates to the national stamp tax (unconfirmed). Provincial stamp tax is collected by the provincial agencies (AGIP in CABA and ARBA in PBA (unconfirmed)).

11. Are shares or quota transfers taxed? The share purchase agreement is an onerous instrument and may be taxed unless an exemption applies (unconfirmed).

12. What happens if I pay late or not at all? Provincial codes impose interest and fines, often increased for late payment or omission, and all signatories are exposed (unconfirmed).

Primary sources

• Law 23.548, Coparticipación Federal de Recursos Fiscales, updated text, art. 9(b)(2).
• Law 23.905, updated text, Title III art. 3 and Title X art. 25.
• Law 27.429, approval of CF 2017, and annex.
• Law 27.469, approval of CF 2018, and annex.
• Law 27.542, approval of CF 2019 (annex is a scanned image; text not extractable).
• Law 27.634, approval of CF 2020, and annex.
• Law 27.687, approval of CF 2021 (full text including annex).
• BO publication dates and numbers of Laws 23.548, 23.905, 27.429, 27.469, 27.542, 27.634 and 27.687: Infoleg norm records,

Related pages

• Tax system overview and calendar
• Fiscal Innocence Law: simplified income tax return, statute of limitations and penalties
• Corporate income tax
• VAT
• Withholdings, perceptions and non resident rates
• Bank debits and credits tax
• Transfer pricing
• Tax treaties
• Live dashboard: inflation and FX