What is the VAT rate in Argentina, and do exports pay VAT?

Last verified: 26 Oct 2026 · Status: Changing

Short answer. The general VAT (IVA) rate in Argentina is 21%. A reduced 10.5% rate applies to a closed list including fresh food, grains, new housing and listed capital goods, and 27% applies to utilities and telecoms supplied to businesses. Exports of goods and services used abroad pay no VAT, and the exporter can recover the input VAT linked to them.

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

Key rules

Rates. The VAT Law (t.o. 1997, Decree 280/1997, as amended) sets three rates in art. 28:

Rate	What it covers	Legal basis
21%	General rate	Art. 28, first paragraph
27%	Gas, electricity, water and telecoms supplied at non residential premises to registered or Monotributo taxpayers	Art. 28, second paragraph
10.5%	Closed list: live animals, fresh meat, fruit and vegetables, grains, flour and bread, new housing, certain bank interest, listed capital goods, fertilisers, LPG, domestic passenger transport and, since 1 April 2026, irrigation electricity	Art. 28, fourth paragraph, items a) to m)

The law never writes "10.5%"; it says 50% of the general rate (art. 28, fourth paragraph).

Exports of goods. Exports are exempt (art. 8(d)). The exporter credits the input VAT linked to exports against VAT on domestic sales, then against other ARCA taxes, or gets a refund or transfers it (art. 43, first and second paragraphs), capped at 21% of each fiscal year's exports (art. 43, second paragraph). It must register and file a monthly return (art. 43, fifth paragraph). Refunds are granted on formal compliance, subject to audit, with an independent accountant's report (art. 43, unnumbered article). In effect, zero rating.

Exports of services. A service performed in Argentina but effectively used abroad is deemed not performed in Argentina and gets art. 43 treatment (art. 1(b), second paragraph). The test is where the service is used, not where the client lives.

Foreign digital services. Digital services from a non resident used in Argentina by a customer who is not a registered taxpayer (consumers, Monotributo, exempt entities) pay 21% (art. 1(e)). A card issuer or other payment intermediary collects it as perception agent; otherwise the customer pays (art. 27, unnumbered article, added by Law 27.430, art. 95). Registered businesses self assess instead (art. 1(d)).

Withholdings and perceptions. ARCA may collect VAT at source (art. 27, fifth paragraph). Designated buyers withhold 50% of the invoiced VAT on goods and 80% on services and reduced rate items (RG 2854/2010, art. 8). Customs adds a perception of 20% (10% for reduced rate goods) on imports by registered importers (RG 2937/2010, art. 7). Both are tax paid; any surplus is a free balance that can be offset, refunded or transferred (art. 24, second paragraph; RG 2854, art. 16; RG 2937, art. 8).

What changes the answer

Where the service is used. Use in Argentina, for example by the client's local branch, makes it a 21% local service (art. 1(b)).
Who buys the digital service. Registered businesses self assess and credit it the next month (arts. 1(d), 12). Consumers pay via their card with no credit (art. 1(e)).
Mixed sales. Exempt domestic sales force pro rata of common input VAT, including for export credits (arts. 13 and 43, fourth paragraph).
Imports. Importers pay 21% plus the 20% perception, except listed tariff positions until 31 December 2026 (RG 2937, art. 2(j), added by RG 5490/2024, extended by RG 5868/2026).

Worked examples

Hypothetical figures, converted at dólar MEP ARS 1,563.90 per US$ on 23 Oct 2026, the dólar MEP selling rate, dolarapi.com (live: /data/mep/).

Step or item	Time	Cost ARS	Cost USD
A. Local sale, net price	Month of sale	10,000,000	6,394
A. Output VAT at 21%	Same month	2,100,000	1,343
A. Input VAT on purchases	Same month	1,260,000	806
A. Net VAT to pay	Monthly return	840,000	537
B. Goods export (no VAT charged)	Month of shipment	78,195,000	50,000
B. Input VAT recovered	Refund request	6,300,000	4,028
B. Recovery cap (21% of exports)	Fiscal year	16,420,950	10,500
C. Service export (no VAT charged)	Month of completion	31,278,000	20,000
C. Input VAT recovered	Refund request	400,000	256

A. Local sale. A registered SAS sells goods at 21% for ARS 10,000,000 net and invoices ARS 12,100,000 (US$7,737) (arts. 11 and 28). It credits ARS 1,260,000 of input VAT (art. 12) and pays ARS 840,000 (US$537). If the buyer is a designated agent, it withholds 50% of the VAT, ARS 1,050,000 (US$671) (RG 2854, art. 8(a)), leaving the SAS a free balance of ARS 210,000 (US$134) (RG 2854, art. 16).

B. Export of goods with input VAT refund. The SAS ships goods at FOB US$50,000 (ARS 78,195,000) with no VAT (art. 8(d)). With no domestic VAT to absorb its ARS 6,300,000 of input VAT, it requests a credit, refund or transfer (art. 43). Cap: 21% × 78,195,000 = ARS 16,420,950, so all ARS 6,300,000 is recoverable. The peso value of exports for the cap follows ARCA and customs rules, not the MEP rate (rule not reproduced here).

C. Export of services. A software firm bills a US client US$20,000 (ARS 31,278,000) for an app used only in the US. No VAT is charged (art. 1(b), second paragraph). Its ARS 400,000 of input VAT is recoverable under art. 43, below the ARS 6,568,380 (US$4,200) cap.

Cost to do it: no government fee in the VAT Law; the accountant's report each refund request needs (art. 43, unnumbered article; fee not set in an official source); and capital tied up until ARCA pays, which can take months; no fixed term was found.

Practical traps

Input surpluses on domestic sales are trapped. A domestic technical balance only carries forward (art. 24, first paragraph); export credits, withholdings and perceptions are refundable.
Withholdings and perceptions pile up. Exporters build free balances; an exclusion certificate under RG 2226/2007 stops them if its tests are met (art. 4).
Supplier fraud hits the exporter. Exporters are jointly liable, up to the credit used, for VAT falsely invoiced by colluding suppliers (art. 43, unnumbered article).

FAQ

Is VAT shown on invoices? Yes, separately, to registered buyers (art. 37) and, since 1 January 2025, to consumers (art. 39, as replaced by Law 27.743, art. 98).

Are exports also free of gross income tax? That is a provincial tax with its own rules; see the gross income page.

Must a foreign software vendor register? Not under the VAT Law; its registered Argentine customers self assess 21% (arts. 1(d) and 4(g)).

How fast are export refunds paid? We found no legal deadline; in practice it can take months.