Taxes IVA- When do I have to pay and when am I being scammed?

[AndriuUSA]

Hello,

I currently rent a ministorage unit here in Capital Federal. I pay 1100 pesos per month for the rent and the company is telling me that I have to pay IVA on top the 1100 pesos, yet when they write me out a receipt, there is no mention of the IVA. On top of that, they will not allow me to deposit cash directly to their bank account for the monthly payment and require me to deliver the cash payment in person. This really makes me think I am being charged the "gringo tax" and it is really bothering me.

Can anyone clarify what the rules and standard operating procedures are when you are charged IVA? All the other businesses I have transacted with that charged me IVA in the past explicilty wrote the IVA amount on all my invoices. Thanks for any advice you may have!

 

[DaveDed]

IVA (impuesto al valor agregado) in Europe known as VAT (value added tax). Since a ministorage unit is NOT a rental contract for a residential or commercial unit, this is considered "goods and services", for which, unless you are a company or signed up with AFIP to collect IVA, then yes, in this case you have to pay IVA. However they MUST give you a receipt: which has the name of their company (called razon social) their CUIT (Tax ID number) and it must say "consumidor final" and be factura B. If they give you anything else, well then, they are billing you en negro and not paying the IVA to AFIP, for that reason they should not be charging it to you. But if you are purchasing any goods or services and you are a regular customer, IVA must be paid, unless they are monotributista and give you a factura 'C'. I would go back to them and demand that they give you a factura B that says all of the data I've mentioned and that says 'consumidor final'.

 

[FeedLaps]

Sounds like they are working en negro, they are not oaying iVA, they are ripping you off. you should insist on official facturas for your payments.

 

[AshleyCount]

Exactly. They are taking you for a ride.

If you make a transfer or deposit into their account, they have to pay AFIP the corresponding IVA. They obviously don't want to do so. If they aren't paying IVA, then you shouldn't be either.

 

[DaveDed]

It's not only IVA they want to avoid paying, it's also all of the other taxes (which are not passed on to the customer directly) like "impuesto al debito / credito", "ingresos brutos", "ganancias" - small businesses here are taxed to death and if they pay everyting they are supposed to most of them could not stay afloat. Not defending anybody, but I had a small business here and know well how this works.

 

[TechNow]

The receipt should be an official type receipt and say "B" at the top. If they give you a receipt that says "C" at the top, they are monotributistas and they shouldn't charge you IVA because they don't pay IVA. Can you post a copy of the receipt? I will take a look and let you know.

It sounds to me like they are trying to charge you IVA, give you a fake receipt, and pocket the 21% difference. It's like a hidden 21% price increase.

In reality people are always supposed to quote prices with IVA included. Normally what happens is people tell you the price without IVA and then if you ask for an official receipt they ask you to pay 21% more for the IVA. This is standard for most service providers.

Here's how you nail these people... tell them that due to the "Ley del cheque" (Ley 25.345), if they are going to give you an official receipt with IVA, you are required to pay by check, bank deposit, or credit card. It is illegal to make a payment over $1000 in cash. So if they want to be 100% legal and make you pay 21% IVA, then you can force them to take the payment into the banking system.

This will force them to actually declare and pay the 21% IVA instead of pocketing the difference.

Just be aware that you are going to create a conflict with these people and they'll probably ask you to move your stuff when the contract expires.

 

[MDirtBoy]

You actually ARE being ripped off in this case - but it's not what you think, ie Gringo Tax. IVA was originally for manufactured goods (think TVs, Cars, Clothes, etc). Then several years ago the government put IVA on "all" goods and services since they couldn't steal enough with the previous set-up. For example, IVA is often now put on real estate rental commissions.

The rip-off is that they are charging you IVA, but not reporting it. You can't have your cake and eat it, too. Either they charge you IVA and then pay this into CFK's retirement fund (aka taxes) AND give you a receipt. Or they work in black, don't charge you the IVA, and therefore don't need to pay it to Aunti Crissi.

 

[earlyretirement]

I agree these people are scamming you. But before you go the road of changing places, I'd just ask them if they will waive it as you'll need an official receipt if they demand charging it and no one wins. I've found if you just be upfront and tell them you don't need an official receipt then they will just waive it if you ask the right way.

I had some stuff in storage for years in Buenos Aires. It's amazing the prices these people charge. I also paid something like 1,100 pesos per month. I never paid IVA as I told them I didn't need an official receipt (it was for personal stuff stored and not work stuff so I didn't need an official receipt).

Very expensive for a space and also I couldn't access the space like the USA style storage spaces. I always thought someone smart could do well with this type of business if they owned the land/building for it. Very very expensive these storage spaces in Buenos Aires.

Before you threaten them with any action from AFIP, I'd make sure you have all of your stuff out of it..... I always felt fortunate that nothing was ever missing as I had lots of expensive furniture stored.