Renting in Buenos Aires

You don't have to pay IVA to rent an apartment o live in: "IVA. Los alquileres para vivienda están exentos, pero el resto de las locaciones urbanas deben tributar IVA al 21%, si el dueño es responsable inscripto (RI). " You only pay IVA tax if you rent for other purposes and if you are "responsable inscripto" according to your business or income. Rentals for living are not charged with IVA tax If you need more info, I'll be glad to help. ***

@buenosairescityrentals

I read your response and appreciate your help. I plan to retire there in about a year. What will I pay for a nice one bedroom? I think I'm just going to keep my money here in North America and use a debit card from my bank. Can you see any problems with that.

Thanks in advance

Louis

@lbatt1953

Agreed, it's better to keep your money in USA in USD as nobody wants ARS!

However, I think you'd need to figure out the best way to get your USD in Buenos Aires. You can either carry it with you, or find an economical way to transfer to yourself for cash pickup, or take out USD at an ATM.

The problem is that Argentina has extremely high inflation (so you can't keep much ARS on hand), and parallel exchange rates. Using a bank card for transactions would be a rather expensive way to pay (but certainly it's convenient). You would be better off with USD and then doing a black market exchange and paying cash everywhere.

Current official rate is around 900, while Dolar Blue is about 1,300 (nearly 50% better).

We used to take the ferry to Colonia (Uruguay) and take out maximum cash (USD) at an ATM there. Then swap for ARS as needed. But I don't know if that's still a good solution, or if there's a better/easier one.