Duties and Money Limitation - Please clarify for me.

[HobokenCentral]

I was surprised to find the following $300 USD money restriction for those inbound USA residents entering Argentina.

http://www.traveldocs.com/ar/index.htm

I had originally thought - based on my trips to other countries and reading that material on-board - the restriction would be more like $5,000-$6,000. Can anyone confirm that officers will check you and query you as to the $300 USD limit upon arrival to EZE? I am having trouble finding any detailed info online other than the website listed above.

On top of that, to see the recent posting on this site that the National Bank in the airport won't take traveller's checks now seems to be ridiculous for those of us who wish to bring large amounts of US Dollars for certain payments while in town.

[StrayLight]

I was surprised to find the following $300 USD money restriction for those inbound USA residents entering Argentina.Unless there's been a radical sudden change, I believe the limit is USD $10,000. That's what I recall the customs declaration asking about the last time I checked closely. I've changed several thousand at a time at the Banco de la Nation counter just next to customs, and no one has ever batted an eye.

[Smuler]

When I came in March, 2007. I brought $1,000.00 USD in cash with me. I was worried that my ATM card would be problematic.

It was in my backpack, and I was never asked about it.

Regards.

Smuler

[El Perro]

HC,

You have confused the value of "items" brought in to Argentina with the cash limit. Common sense would dictate that there would not be a $300 limit.

[Jackson]

I was surprised to find the following $300 USD money restriction for those inbound USA residents entering Argentina.

http://www.traveldocs.com/ar/index.htm

I had originally thought - based on my trips to other countries and reading that material on-board - the restriction would be more like $5,000-$6,000. Can anyone confirm that officers will check you and query you as to the $300 USD limit upon arrival to EZE? I am having trouble finding any detailed info online other than the website listed above.

On top of that, to see the recent posting on this site that the National Bank in the airport won't take traveller's checks now seems to be ridiculous for those of us who wish to bring large amounts of US Dollars for certain payments while in town.Greetings,

The $300.00 USD that the website is referring to is under the title "CUSTOMS & DUTY FREE ALLOWANCES AND RESTRICTIONS" and is (at least to me) clearly referring to the dollar value of purchased goods that you may bring back into Argentina from another country without paying any import taxes. The USA has a similar limitation.

This has nothing to do with how much undeclared cash you may bring into the country, which I've always understood to be $10K. Even then, there's no limit or taxes, but simply a requirement that amounts larger than $10k must be declared.

Thanks,

Jackson

[Seaman]

I returned 2 days ago, and I had a good look at the customs form since I was bringing in some stuff.

If you read the customs form it indeed tells you that the duty free limit is US$300 on goods purchased outside Argentina, and on top of that you have a US$300 duty free limit for items bought at the duty free shop on EZEIZA airport.

But the funny thing on the form are the exceptions;

All books / magazines / folders etc are exempt.

All used objects are exempt!

So what I did before I packed my stuff, was taking everything out of its original packing.

Of course I got the red light. (It used to be a random light, press the button if you get red -> x-ray + inspection, green -> pass, but now it is somebody who flips a switch. Since I always travel by myself and have more then one suitcase, this is always happening to me. Families with 2 kids and 10 suitcases can pass through though.

After the X-ray the official wanted to check all my suitcases and box which I brought, and he started to ask the usual questions. My standard reply was that it was all used stuff, nothing new. I declared two items on my customs sheet as new, with a total value of US$300. There was one item he made a big deal of, but my reply was that if he wanted me to pay duties, that I wanted to get the duties back the moment I exported it again. Or that I would leave it behind and pick it up the moment I leave the country. The look on his face told me that he did not like that option. So I got waved through.

About the money.

I often carry >US$10k with me while coming in. I always keep it in my pockets of my jacket. They do not scan that one:) Never had any problem with it.

In general, you can just bullshit your way through customs here:)

Seaman

[El Aleman]

Jackson, to my knowledge this is not completely true. There are restrictions about bringing money into Argentina, they basically say that all transfers have to go through the central bank, and if you want Dollars, it first gets converted into Pesos and then back, of course each time to a favourate rate - for the bank. And, with the exception of very few reasons (direct investments, real estate purchase, export business) 30% of the money has to be deposited for a period of one year without interest at the central bank.

Avoiding this is illegal. Of course it's done 1000 times every day.

Strictly legally, this applies also for cash flowing into the country, and if you declare, you might find yourself forced to leave 30% of your greenbacks behind to hopefully get them back a year later. The $10k allowance is one legal loophole to get around this stupid rule.

2 centavos de.

El Alemán