Argentina freed individuals from its currency controls in 2025. Companies got a narrower deal. Here is what foreign-owned companies can pay abroad today — dividends, services, loans — the waiting periods, the old-profits route and the tax on the way out.
In April 2025 Argentina lifted its currency controls for individuals. For companies, the “cepo” was loosened, not removed, and the Central Bank said in May 2026 that it could stay that way. The headline change is real: dividends from profits of 2025 onwards can now be paid to foreign shareholders at the official exchange rate, and companies sent more than US$4 billion abroad in the first nine months of 2026.
Everything else comes with conditions — waiting periods for related-party services, minimum terms for loans, a 90-day bar on using parallel dollar markets, and a separate route for profits trapped from earlier years. This guide sets out what can leave, when, and at what tax cost.
| Payment abroad by a company | Access to the official FX market (October 2026) |
|---|---|
| Dividends from fiscal years starting 1 January 2025 or later | Allowed, from audited financial statements |
| Dividends from 2024 and earlier | Blocked; route through BOPREAL Series 4 |
| Imports of goods | From the day the customs entry is registered |
| Services from unrelated providers | Once rendered or accrued |
| Services and royalties to related parties | 90 calendar days after rendering or accrual |
| New related-party loans | Minimum average life of 180 days |
| Related-party debt from before December 2023 | Blocked; BOPREAL |
| Export proceeds | Must still be brought in and sold: 30–365 days by product |
Law and practice: BCRA Communications A 8226 (April 2025), A 8230, A 8417 (April 2026) and A 8481 (September 2026), and the consolidated foreign-exchange rules. Banks apply them unevenly; expect document requests.
A company can buy dollars to pay dividends to non-resident shareholders from realised profits in audited financial statements for fiscal years starting on or after 1 January 2025. Capital contributions since January 2020 may need to have been properly registered for the access to be granted.
Profits from 2024 and earlier remain blocked at the official rate. The Central Bank’s answer is BOPREAL Series 4: dollar bonds bought with pesos, paying 3% a year and maturing in October 2028, which companies can use to convert trapped dividends. Since September 2026, non-residents can also bring home portfolio investments funded by dividends collected since 2019.
Law and practice: BCRA A 8233/8234 (BOPREAL Series 4, April 2025); A 8481 (14 September 2026).
A company that buys dollars at the official rate cannot use the MEP or CCL markets (buying dollars through securities) in the 90 days before or after. The reverse also applies. Each access to the official market comes with sworn statements, including that no local assets were handed to group companies in the previous 90 days.
In practice, decide your channel for the quarter. Mixing them, even through a group company, is the most common way foreign-owned companies lose access.
| Payment to a non-resident (no treaty) | Withholding |
|---|---|
| Dividends | 7% |
| Interest | 15.05% or 35% |
| Technical assistance not available in Argentina | 21% |
| Royalties, or assistance available locally | 28% |
| Other Argentine-source income | 31.5% |
| VAT on imported services (reverse charge) | 21% |
The withholding rates come from applying 35% to a deemed net profit. Treaties reduce them: Argentina has around 23 in force, including Brazil, Chile, Spain and the UK. There is no treaty with Paraguay, so payments to a Paraguayan company bear the full domestic rates — and Argentina treats Paraguay as a low-tax jurisdiction, which brings transfer pricing to every transaction.
Law and practice: Income Tax Law, art. 104 (deemed net income); VAT Law, art. 1 (imported services). Paraguay is low-tax under LIG art. 20 (corporate tax below 15%) but was removed from the non-cooperative list by Decree 48/2023.
Companies must still bring export proceeds into Argentina and sell them in the local market: within 30 days of shipment for grains and fuels, 60 days for minerals and for sales to related buyers, 365 days for leather, clothing and footwear, and 180 days for everything else, then 20 business days to convert. Service exporters are exempt only within the knowledge-economy regime. Individuals are exempt for goods and services.
Law and practice: BCRA A 8481; Decree 679/2022 (knowledge economy).
Audited statements are the ticket to dividend access.
Official market or MEP/CCL, quarter by quarter.
Services and royalties wait 90 days; build that into the intercompany agreement.
At least 180 days, or four years with a three-year grace to refinance without approval.
BOPREAL Series 4 for pre-2025 dividends and pre-2023 related-party debt.
No treaty with Paraguay: service fees to a Paraguayan company bear 21–31.5%.
Yes, for profits of fiscal years starting on or after 1 January 2025, from audited financial statements. Earlier profits remain blocked at the official rate.
Through BOPREAL Series 4, Central Bank dollar bonds bought in pesos, paying 3% a year and maturing in October 2028.
For individuals, largely yes since April 2025. For companies, restrictions remain on old dividends, related-party payments, loans and the use of parallel markets.
90 calendar days after the service is rendered or accrued.
7%. Other payments to non-residents bear 15.05% to 35% depending on the type, unless a treaty applies.
No. Payments to Paraguayan companies bear full domestic withholding, and Argentina treats Paraguay as a low-tax jurisdiction for transfer pricing.
Companies do, within 30 to 365 days depending on the product. Individuals are exempt.
What is law and what is only promised.
Residence, low-tax status and transfer pricing.
Tell us what your Argentine company owes abroad and to whom. We map the FX access, the timing and the tax on each payment — fixed quote within one business day.
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