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Final stage of money laundering: how to buy a property without paying the 15% penalty? - La Nacion Propiedades
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Última etapa del blanqueo: ¿cómo comprar una propiedad sin pagar la pena del 15%?
En este caso, quienes ingresen al blanqueo en la última etapa, deberán abonar una alícuota mayor: del 15% sobre el valor excedente de US$100.000 declarados
www.lanacion.com.ar
February 13, 2025
In this case, those who enter the whitening process in the last stage will have to pay a higher rate: 15% on the value exceeding US$100,000 declared.
By Candela Contreras
The third and final stage of money laundering has begun; this is how you can invest in the real estate market Shutterstock
With the aim of continuing to encourage the formalization of undeclared assets by Argentines and in a context of increasing economic regulation, the Government is beginning the third and final phase of the Asset Regularization Regime , better known as “ laundering .” After the second stage concluded on February 7, a new window has now opened for those who have not yet joined the system.
In this sense, this Saturday, February 8, the last phase began , which will extend until May 7 , unless the Executive decides to extend it . This stage presents less favorable conditions than the previous ones, since it establishes a rate of 15% on the value exceeding the US$100,000 laundered .
The designed scheme allowed taxpayers to declare their assets in the first two stages with a progressive tax burden: 5% in the first phase , which ended in December 2023, and 10% in the second , which ended last week. Now, with a higher rate, it is expected that those who have not yet joined will be able to do so.
As in the first two stages, all individuals, undivided estates and legal entities , tax residents in Argentina as of December 31, 2023, will be able to regularize assets, whether or not they are registered as taxpayers with ARCA (formerly AFIP). While public officials or those who have been public officials during the last 10 years - in addition to their spouses and partners, their parents, children, siblings and brothers-in-law - will not be able to do so.
All persons who enter the whitening process in this last stage must pay a 15% rate. Shutterstock
The impact on the real estate sector
One of the sectors that is closely following the evolution of the regime is the real estate market, which was reactivated in 2024 by the return of mortgage credit and money laundering was also of great help. Throughout the first two stages, the possibility of using regularized funds for the purchase of properties encouraged some investors to reactivate operations.
However, at this stage it will also be possible to externalize properties located in the country or abroad , including works under construction, regardless of their degree of progress.
It is important to clarify that the value taken to calculate the tax is the surplus of US$100,000 (the rate is applied to the surplus). Therefore, if a property is worth US$120,000 , the 15% rate is calculated on US$20,000 .
A separate case is what happened with the laundering of cash (which only applied to the first stage that ended in mid-November); in it, the rate was not calculated on the surplus , but at zero cost , that is, on all the money laundered.
All assets, in exceptional cases, must be valued in US dollars . In the case of real estate, the value at which it was acquired, its tax value or its minimum value (whichever is higher) must be considered.
In all cases, these are assets that were obtained before December 31, 2023 , since everything acquired after that cannot be included in the money laundering process.
All assets, exceptionally, must be valued in US dollars. FreePik
How to invest in property with laundered money?
The alternatives that ARCA proposes for investing in the real estate market are the following :
In the case of cash , which had to be laundered during the first stage and deposited in a Special Asset Regulation Account (CERA), it can be invested in one of the investments authorized by the Ministry of Economy , such as, for example, in properties under construction that are registered in the AFIP Real Estate Projects Registry (REPI) and have up to 50% progress of work, which exempts the payment of taxes in the laundering.
But there is also the possibility of buying used, brand new or unfinished properties with more than 50% of the work completed that cost more than US$100,000 but without paying any penalty . This is possible by transferring the amount of the transaction from one CERA account to another CERA account , since as long as the laundered money remains within the financial system until December 2025, no tax is paid.
“A possible situation is that a person wants to sell a property (which is worth more than US$100,000) and invest the money from the transaction in shares, for example. Then they accept that a person who laundered cash transfers the funds to their CERA account and neither of them pays the laundering rates ,” explains Sebastián Domínguez, accountant and CEO of SDC Tax Advisors.
This option is contemplated within the regulations and there are already developers with projects that are more than 50% complete that are accepting it , since their projects do not fall within the options authorized by the Ministry of Economy. “This can become a wheel that goes on and on if everyone starts doing it. Because that developer can have an arrangement with the company from which he buys cement, for example, that also accepts a transfer to a CERA account or uses it to invest in another project,” adds the tax specialist.
“Another case could be that a person decides to buy a brand new apartment from another person and the seller uses the money to buy a property in a condominium with less than 50% of the work completed and registered in the REPI, invest in one of the placements authorized by the Ministry of Economy, or can follow the cycle and transfer to another person in his CERA account for some purchase, such as another property,” adds Domínguez.
There are many possible examples, but the important thing is to know what the CERA account generates: that until the end of 2025 , as long as the money remains there, no type of tax is paid regardless of the amount . Therefore, as long as the money circulates within the accounts, the payment of taxes is avoided.
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