Licences, reference prices and the PAIS tax are gone; the prepayments are not. Here is Argentina’s tariff after the 2025 cuts, the full tax stack with a worked example, registration and procedure, how importers pay suppliers, the Paraguayan angle and the rules for small shipments.
Importing into Argentina was, until 2023, an exercise in permits: non-automatic licences, prior sworn declarations, minimum reference prices, a 30% surcharge on foreign currency and months of waiting for dollars. Most of that is gone. Licences were abolished, reference values repealed, the PAIS tax expired, tariffs cut on clothing, phones and machinery, and importers can now pay suppliers from the day goods are registered.
What remains is the tax design. At clearance an importer pays the duty and statistics fee, VAT, and three prepayments of VAT, income tax and provincial turnover tax — together around 78% of the goods’ value for a typical non-Mercosur product. Most of it comes back as credits, but the cash is gone on day one. This guide covers the tariff, the tax stack with a worked example, registration and procedure, the Paraguayan angle, small shipments, special regimes and the changes since 2024.
For a side-by-side comparison of all six markets, see our regional customs guide.
Argentina applies the Mercosur common external tariff on the NCM nomenclature, with an average applied rate of about 12.4% and a ceiling of 35%. Like Brazil, it has a list of 150 national exceptions until 2028, which it has used since 2024 to cut tariffs on consumer and capital goods as part of its anti-inflation policy.
| 2025–2026 change | Effect |
|---|---|
| Import licensing system (SEDI) abolished, February 2025 | No prior sworn declaration per import |
| Reference values (valores criterio) repealed, October 2024 | Risk-based guarantees instead of minimum prices |
| Clothing, footwear and fabrics (Decree 236/2025) | Clothing and footwear 35% → 20%; fabrics 26% → 18% |
| Mobile phones and consoles (Decree 333/2025) | Phones to 0% from January 2026; consoles 35% → 20%; electronics excise 19% → 9.5% |
| Capital goods (Decree 513/2025) | Listed machines from 20–35% to 12.6% |
| Payment for imports (BCRA, April 2025) | Goods can be paid from the day the import is registered |
| Excise on cars, boats, aircraft, luxury goods | Repealed from 1 April 2026 |
| Postal regime (Decree 604/2026) | US$400 per shipment, five a year, duty-free; flat 50% rate repealed |
Law and practice: WTO tariff profile 2025; Decrees 236/2025, 333/2025 and 513/2025; RG Conjunta 5651/2025 (SEDI); RG 5582/2024 (reference values); Law 27,802, art. 195 (excise repeal).
| Charge at clearance | Rate | Cost or prepayment? |
|---|---|---|
| Import duty (derecho de importación) | Mercosur common external tariff; average about 12.4%, up to 35% | Cost |
| Statistics fee (tasa de estadística) | 3%, capped by value band; until end-2027 | Cost; Mercosur goods exempt |
| VAT (IVA) | 21% (10.5% for capital goods) | Credit |
| Additional VAT prepayment | 20% (10% on 10.5% goods) | Prepayment, credited later |
| Income tax prepayment (Ganancias) | 6% (11% for goods for own use or consumption) | Prepayment, credited later |
| Provincial turnover tax prepayment (Ingresos Brutos) | Usually 2.5% | Prepayment, credited later |
| Excise (impuestos internos) | Only some goods: electronics 9.5%, tobacco, alcohol | Cost |
Only the duty and the statistics fee are true costs for a registered importer. VAT is credited against VAT on sales; the additional VAT prepayment, the income tax prepayment and the provincial turnover tax prepayment are credited against the importer’s own returns. Importers with large credit balances can apply for exclusion certificates, available again since March 2025, to stop prepayments piling up.
The statistics fee is 3% of the customs value but capped by value band, and goods of Mercosur origin are exempt.
| Customs value | Maximum statistics fee |
|---|---|
| Up to US$10,000 | US$180 |
| US$10,000–100,000 | US$3,000 |
| US$100,000–1 million | US$30,000 |
| Above US$1 million | US$150,000 |
Law and practice: Decree 1140/2024 (statistics fee to 31 December 2027); RG 2937 (VAT prepayment); RG 2281 (income tax prepayment); Comisión Arbitral RG 3/2013 (turnover tax, SIRPEI); RG 5655/2025 (exclusion certificates).
| CIF US$100,000, duty 16% | Non-Mercosur origin | Paraguayan origin |
|---|---|---|
| Import duty | 16,000 | 0 |
| Statistics fee 3% | 3,000 | 0 (exempt) |
| VAT 21% | 24,990 | 21,000 |
| Additional VAT prepayment 20% | 23,800 | 20,000 |
| Income tax prepayment 6% | 7,140 | 6,000 |
| Turnover tax prepayment 2.5% | 2,975 | 2,500 |
| Total paid at clearance | 77,905 (78% of CIF) | 49,500 (50% of CIF) |
| Of which pure cost | 19,000 | 0 |
The comparison shows why Mercosur origin matters so much in Argentina. A Paraguayan product saves the 16% duty and the 3% statistics fee: 19 points of pure cost. The prepayments remain but are recoverable. For a company with low margins, the cash tied up in prepayments can still be a bigger problem than the duty; plan financing for it.
Law and practice: Illustrative: base for VAT and prepayments taken as CIF plus duty and statistics fee.
Commercial imports are made by a company or person registered in Argentina’s importer and exporter register at the tax and customs authority (ARCA). The requirements are a tax number (CUIT), a high-level fiscal key, a verified tax address, VAT registration and no overdue tax debts. Registration is free and normally takes a few days. Since 2025, operators in special customs registers must also keep an electronic customs domicile (SICNEA).
In practice a licensed customs broker (despachante de aduana) lodges the declaration. A foreign company without an Argentine entity cannot import in its own name; it sells to an Argentine importer or sets up a company — see our company guide.
Law and practice: ARCA importer and exporter register; RG 5793/2025 (SICNEA).
Declaration
Filed electronically by the broker; documents include the commercial invoice, transport document, certificate of origin where preference is claimed, and any technical or sanitary approval.
Selectivity channels
Green (release), orange (documents), red (physical inspection) and a purple channel for valuation checks.
Inspections
Since 2025, containers on red or orange can be moved under electronic seal to a bonded warehouse in the same district for inspection.
Product safety
Checks moved out of customs: goods are released and controls follow at market level.
Port time
Containers usually have to leave the Buenos Aires port within about five days.
Law and practice: RG 5644/2025 (inspection under electronic seal); Decree 892/2025 (simplified technical compliance).
Since April 2025, importers can buy dollars to pay for goods from the day the import is registered with customs, instead of waiting 30 days or more. Small and medium companies can pay at shipment, and capital goods can be paid partly in advance. Services from related parties abroad still wait 90 days, and companies must choose between the official market and the parallel MEP or CCL markets for 90-day periods. Our guide to Argentina’s FX rules covers the detail.
For exporters selling into Argentina, the practical consequence is that payment risk has fallen sharply but not disappeared. Agree terms that match the importer’s access: payment against registration of the import, or at shipment for small and medium buyers, is now realistic. Long open-account terms to related distributors still need care, because related-party debt has its own rules. Pricing in dollars remains the norm; invoices in pesos expose the exporter to a currency that moves within the central bank’s bands every month.
Law and practice: BCRA Communication A 8226 (April 2025).
Paraguayan goods that meet Mercosur origin rules enter Argentina with 0% duty and no statistics fee, using the same regime as Brazil: up to 60% non-Mercosur content allowed until 2038, and a certificate of origin issued in Paraguay. VAT and the prepayments still apply. Sugar remains outside Mercosur free trade.
Border crossings
Clorinda–Puerto Falcón and Posadas–Encarnación carry most road traffic.
Border residents
Since October 2026, the neighbouring-border-traffic regime allows up to US$150 a day for residents of border areas.
The Paraná waterway
Most Paraguayan exports travel down the Paraná. The new concession, awarded in 2026 for 25 years, sets a toll of US$3.80 per net registered ton, rising as dredging works progress; Paraguay has asked for a cargo-based toll.
Sensitive products
Argentine producers periodically push for restrictions on Paraguayan goods such as yerba mate; no ban is in force.
Law and practice: Decrees 12.058/2024 and CMC Decision 06/23 for the origin regime; RG ARCA 5910 (9 October 2026); waterway concession awarded June 2026.
Argentina has changed its small-shipment rules twice in two years. Since July 2026, postal imports for individuals are exempt from duty and statistics fee up to US$400 per shipment and five shipments a year; any excess pays the ordinary regime, and the old flat 50% rate was repealed. VAT still applies. ARCA has announced it will replace the five-shipment model and is testing tax collection at checkout with a large platform, so the rules are likely to change again.
For businesses, small shipments are not a commercial channel: goods for resale must go through ordinary import with a broker.
Law and practice: Decree 604/2026 (16 July 2026); ARCA announcement of 2 July 2026.
Temporary import for processing
Inputs for goods to be exported, with a guarantee; extension rules updated in June 2026.
RIGI projects
Large-investment vehicles import capital goods, parts and inputs free of duty, statistics fee and all prepayments.
Tierra del Fuego
Special manufacturing regime extended to 2038; a simplified channel for small shipments to the mainland.
Bonded warehouses
Defer taxes until goods are cleared for consumption.
See our RIGI guide for the large-investment route.
Law and practice: Decree 1330/2004 and RG 5854/2026 (temporary import); Law 27,742, art. 190, and RG 5620/2024 (RIGI imports).
The customs value is the CIF value under WTO valuation rules: the price paid, plus freight and insurance to the Argentine border, plus adjustments such as royalties and assists. Since the minimum reference prices were repealed, customs selects risky declarations and asks for a guarantee covering the possible difference, which is released automatically if no adjustment is made within 120 days. Related-party imports should carry transfer pricing support that matches the declared value.
Commercial invoice
Full description, quantities, unit prices, Incoterm and origin; discrepancies are the main source of fines.
Transport document
Bill of lading, air waybill or international road consignment note (CRT) for trucks from Paraguay and Brazil.
Certificate of origin
Original Mercosur certificate, or digital where the countries exchange them; it must match the invoice.
Technical approvals
Electrical safety, food and medical products still need their sectoral approvals, now mostly checked after release.
Used goods
A sworn declaration replaced the old certificate for used capital goods in 2025.
Law and practice: RG 5582/2024 (risk-based value guarantees); RG 5676/2025 (used goods).
Taxes at clearance are only part of the bill. Port and terminal charges in Buenos Aires are high by regional standards, the broker charges a fee usually tied to the customs value, and storage accrues quickly if a container sits in a red-channel queue. Inland freight from the port to Córdoba or Mendoza adds more.
Then come the domestic taxes that touch every payment: the tax on bank debits and credits (0.6% on each movement) applies to the transfer to the supplier and to collections from customers, and provincial turnover tax applies again on resale. A realistic landed-cost model for Argentina therefore has three layers — customs, cash tied up in prepayments, and domestic transaction taxes — and the third is the one foreign exporters most often forget when they price DAP or delivered to a distributor.
For goods coming from Paraguay by truck, the picture is lighter: no ocean freight, no port congestion, shorter transit and no duty for Mercosur-origin goods. That is a large part of the case for supplying the Argentine market from a Paraguayan base rather than from Asia or Europe.
Cash in prepayments
Up to 30 points of CIF tied up until credited; apply for exclusion certificates.
Wrong declaration
Fines of one to five times the tax difference for inaccurate declarations.
Missing origin proof
Without a valid certificate, Paraguayan goods pay full duty and the statistics fee.
Mixing FX channels
Using the parallel markets within 90 days of official access blocks future payments.
Assuming stability
Tariffs, small-shipment rules and FX conditions changed every few months in 2024–2026.
Law and practice: Customs Code (Law 22,415), art. 954.
NCM code, current duty after the 2025 cuts, excise if any.
CUIT, ARCA importer register, electronic customs domicile.
And agree the documents before the goods ship.
Mercosur certificate for Paraguayan or Brazilian goods.
Or obtain exclusion certificates.
Day-0 access for goods; 90-day rule for related-party services.
Import duty, a 3% statistics fee (capped), 21% VAT, and prepayments of 20% VAT, 6% income tax and about 2.5% provincial turnover tax.
About 78% of CIF for a product with a 16% duty; only the duty and statistics fee (19 points) are pure cost, the rest is credited later.
No, if they meet Mercosur origin rules and carry a certificate; they are also exempt from the statistics fee. VAT and the prepayments still apply.
No. The SEDI system was abolished in February 2025 and reference values were repealed in October 2024.
Until 31 December 2027 under Decree 1140/2024, at 3% with caps by value band.
Since April 2025, from the day the import is registered with customs.
In practice yes: a licensed despachante de aduana lodges the declaration for commercial imports, and the importer must be registered with ARCA.
Since July 2026, postal imports up to US$400 per shipment, five a year, are free of duty and statistics fee; VAT applies.
Paying foreign suppliers and the FX rules.
The other big Mercosur market, compared.
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