The companies and professionals that sell their services to the world need accounts abroad to receive payments from their clients and cancel debts with suppliers, in order to also avoid the local exchange rate. And the most convenient ones are offered in the United States.
Before the stocks, many Argentines created one without resorting to an intermediary or stepping on American soil. Specifically, using sites like tdameritrade.com or interactivebrokers.com, which accepted minimums of $ 10,000. But everything changed after the restrictions.
"Since the end of last year, the Central Bank has prohibited transfers to sub-accounts abroad. Specifically, it has prohibited transfers to brokers, which is where the vast majority of Argentines have their savings outside the country. But it can be transferred to a own bank account from abroad, "Mariano Sardáns, CEO of the asset manager FDI, tells iProUP.
However, for their activity, there are those who require another type of account, called transactional account or "transactional", which is used for commercial purposes by companies, professionals, entrepreneurs, as well as importers and exporters. And that they can now process without leaving home.
A transactional account allows Argentine firms to receive payments from their clients and cancel debts from suppliers, whether inside or outside the United States. And without leaving home.
"Until a couple of months ago, opening a bank account in the United States remotely was quite a challenge. The difficult figure were those to handle transitory balances, also called transactional ones," added Sardáns.
Following the pandemic, US banks turned to video call platforms en masse and their executives are now onboarding (registering) customers from their homes also for this type of product.
"These movements are not welcome in accounts opened by brokers, relatively easy to process, but which also close quickly when they detect this type of movement," warns Sardáns. In the previous quarantine, the entities of the northern country that allowed them to be opened remotely were counted.
"The 'great cuckoo' is not to comply strictly with the famous KYC (acronym in English of" know your customer ") and that a user involved in illegal activities is leaked or that the documentation you submit does not correspond to who is really going to handle the money, "says Sardáns.
However, from the widespread use of video call platforms, the face-to-face opening process was replaced with online interviews. "The same employees who used to open accounts on the desk now do so from their own homes and with the client on the other side of the screen," he emphasizes.
According to the expert, obtaining an account in the US "is not a minor issue for the Latin American and much more for the Argentine." And it lists four key advantages over operating in this square:
- It is the most convenient in terms of the number of banking services
- It is the cheapest in terms of maintenance costs and transfer fees
- It is ideal for doing business with the world
- It is the safest
"What happened in the pandemic shows that you can also be flexible and adapt to new times, even in companies such as those in the financial sector that tend to be rigorous and rigid," he emphasizes.
According to entrepreneurs consulted by iProUP, both companies and individuals can obtain one of these accounts to streamline their business with other international companies.
The requirements for a personal account are:
- Two identifications for each holder or agent: the DNI and the passport
- Proof of address: a service, which can be electricity, gas or telephone
- Financial statements or income certification, certified by accountant, or salary receipt
- Bank reference letter accompanied by the last three statements
- Curriculum vitae
Meanwhile, obtaining a corporate account requires:
- A valid identification for each signatory or who has more than 10% of the shares of the company
- Proof of address of the entity (a service in the name of the company)
- Fiscal key
- Articles of incorporation: constitutive statute and corporate documentation of the company
- Certificate of validity of the company
- Summary of the corporate structure if it is complex
- Financial statements of the firm, both for the current year and the previous year
- Last two balance sheets: in case the company is very recent and does not have one yet, the owners' financial statements must be presented
- Resume of the shareholders
"In addition, in both cases, the final beneficiary must report their financial status, through a form provided by the banks," the sources explain. And they add: "There you must indicate your personal data, assets and liabilities that you have, and the income of the last 12 months as wages, bonuses, dividends or income, as appropriate."
As iProUP would realize, those who require an account to operate in the US and do not need to register as a company, can also open it through a broker.
The company is one of those that offers personalized support, taking advantage of not only the title of Global Investment Advisor (AGI) assigned to it by the National Securities Commission (it was the second to obtain it and there are already more than 15 on the market), but also that in the US it is registered as a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA). In Uruguay, meanwhile, it operates as an investment advisor.
"To open an account abroad we ask for basic information requirements: a service ticket to check the address, bank statement to verify that the person is banked, the valid passport and complete forms," says Sardáns, adding that it is not necessary to have the Visa of the country in which it is invested.
Another local player that offers the possibility of investing in the United States is Invest OnLine (IOL). "Currently, the minimum amount to open the account is US $ 1,000 and funding is through the purchase and sale of bonds at an exchange rate counted with liquidation," Flavia Matsuda, Coordinator of Investing Investing Online
"You can operate stocks, ADRs and listed index funds (EFT). The latter allow you to invest in exposure to different geographic areas and types of instruments: stocks, bonds, commodities (gold, oil, soybeans, etc.) and currencies," he adds.
Like IOL, there are a handful of Settlement and Clearing Agents (C&C) who provide the option of opening accounts abroad, although they prefer a low profile. From a regulatory point of view, such service is private placement (that is, private offer). Unlike the public offering, it cannot be advertised, communicated by mass mail, or sent to distribution lists.
"If you do, you are violating the Public Offering Law," they explain from an ALyC. In addition, given the restrictions, Argentines take advantage of the so-called stock market dollar to jump the cap of $ 200 a month and transfer funds abroad.
"Many go to the capital market, at a cost that is the difference between the MEP and cash, or resort to the purchase of a publicly traded security," says Sardáns, who criticizes the decision to have banned brokers. .
Before opening an account in the United States, individuals must know the tax portion and what taxes are paid at home and abroad.
"Portfolios that are abroad and generate income are covered by the Argentine Income Tax. In the US, being a non-resident, there are no taxes on financial gains obtained in that country," he points out. to iProUP the taxpayer César Litvin, CEO of Estudio Lisicki, Litvin & Asociados.
Income Tax, clarifies Litvin, is applied to the net result in hard currency. "That is to say: the sale price less the purchase cost in the same currency. The exchange difference is not taxed," he highlights.
Regarding the holding of assets abroad, it indicates that human beings are not taxed on Income Tax if no benefits were generated. It is also paid on the collection of coupons that are credited.
Another tax that reaches investments abroad is the Personal Property Tax. After the Economic Emergency Law, it is located at:
- 0.7% for assets up to $ 3 million
- 1.20% up to $ 6.5 million
- 1.8% up to $ 18 million
- 2.25% for higher amounts
"It is a high rate considering that some financial returns outside the country yield no more than 1 or 2%. It is a tax that becomes very expensive and takes an important part of the income," says Litvin.
Another key fact to consider is that the US inheritance tax for non-residents is in force. "It is quite high, because it is paid from assets of more than US $ 60,000 and is on a progressive scale. At its highest rate, it reaches almost 50% of the amount," warns the CEO of the Lisicki Study, Litvin & Associates.
When a person who has an account in that country dies and the heir appears to take charge of his assets, it is the moment when this tax is deducted.
"What is done to optimize the fiscal side is to create structures that are outside the inheritance tax," says César Litvin. For example, he adds, a trust is drawn up or financial investments are made in the name of a company based in a low-tax country, such as the British Virgin Islands, Belize or Panama.