Argentina Wealth Tax (Bienes Personales) for UK Residents

For a Briton settling in Argentina, the expensive surprise can be an asset left in the UK. Bienes Personales is an annual tax on assets held at 31 December, rather than on the income those assets produce. In fiscal year 2025, an Argentine tax resident pays 0.50% to 1.00% on taxable assets worldwide above ARS 384,728,044.57 (about US$253,000). The dwelling they live in is exempt if its valuation is no more than ARS 1,346,548,155.99 (about US$886,000).

Someone who remains a non-resident is assessed only on Argentine assets, at a flat 0.5% through a local representative. The dividing line is tax residence: owning a Buenos Aires flat is one thing; becoming resident brings a UK rental property, savings and investments into the annual inventory.

When UK assets come within the tax

For a foreign national, Argentine tax residence normally begins on obtaining permanent immigration residence, or on the first day of the month after completing 12 months in Argentina on temporary permission. Absences totalling up to 90 days during those 12 months do not interrupt the count. There is no general 183-day shortcut, and the one-year renewable rentista (own-assets income) permit does not postpone the test.

A DNI, Argentine spouse or local bank account alone does not establish tax residence. A non-resident with Argentine property pays on the Argentine asset; once resident, they must assess taxable assets wherever held. Someone who meets domestic residence rules in both countries also needs to work through the UK's Statutory Residence Test and Argentine filing dates separately: Argentina's tax year ends on 31 December, while the UK's ends on 5 April.

The 2025 allowance, home exemption and rates

ARCA applies the general scale to taxable assets above the ARS 384,728,044.57 minimum. The rates have been the same for Argentine and foreign assets since 2023 and are set to fall towards 0.25% by 2027. The 2025 minimum and scale will change for later years as ARCA republishes them using CPI variation.

The main-home exemption applies to the single dwelling a person lives in when its valuation is ARS 1,346,548,155.99 or less. This limit and the general minimum are per person, rather than a shared allowance for a couple. Argentine bank savings accounts, term deposits at Argentine banks and Argentine government bonds are exempt. For company shares and fideicomisos (local trusts), the company or trust instead pays 0.5% on the participation and may recover that cost from shareholders.

*The reduced scale for contribuyentes cumplidores (good taxpayers) requires every tax obligation from 2020 to 2022 to have been met. Figures are for fiscal year 2025.*

A non-resident instead pays 0.5% on Argentine assets through a local representative in June. There is no charge if the calculated bill is ARS 255.75 or less.

What goes into the 31 December calculation

Ownership matters as much as location. Each spouse files separately on assets in their own name and their share of jointly held assets, rather than listing the entire joint balance twice. A UK rental flat, UK savings, shares inside an ISA and Argentine property may all matter to a resident; their legal character and valuation rules determine the amount entered.

Property is valued under the statutory rules, rather than by copying an estate agent's asking price. Debts are generally not deducted, so a mortgage does not simply turn the tax into a calculation of net wealth. A UK ISA shelters income and gains under UK rules, while its underlying holdings still need to be valued for Bienes Personales. Undrawn pension rights, including a SIPP, need classification before treating the balance as an ordinary brokerage account.

Year-end bank and broker statements, purchase deeds, mortgage statements and the exchange rate used in the return help substantiate that inventory. A non-resident owner of Argentine land also needs the deed and the details of the local representative.

What a 2025 bill can look like

Suppose one person has ARS 600 million of non-exempt assets on 31 December 2025. After the general minimum, ARS 215,271,955.43 remains taxable. On the general scale the bill is ARS 724,133.89 plus 1% of the amount above ARS 114,105,948.16, about ARS 1,735,794 (about US$1,140).

On the reduced good-taxpayer scale, the same assets produce a bill of about ARS 659,434 (about US$434), with 0.5% applying in the top band. Another spouse calculates their own assets against their own minimum. Both the statutory valuations and the scale for the relevant year matter more than a current market estimate of the household's combined wealth.

Filing in Argentina and tax in the UK

A resident who must file uses a CUIT (tax identification number) and clave fiscal (ARCA online access) to submit the annual return through ARCA's Bienes Personales service by its published due dates; payment is in June. A non-resident's responsable sustituto or apoderado, the local representative, settles the 0.5% charge instead. Migraciones permission dates and travel history establish the residency timeline behind the return.

REIBP is a special regime for people who were tax residents at 31 December 2023 and for non-residents with a local representative. It provides for one payment covering returns and tax through fiscal year 2027, with rates held to 2038; its terms need to be compared with annual filing before choosing it.

The UK has no general annual wealth tax on homes or investments. UK rental profit, for instance, raises an income-tax question in both countries, while Bienes Personales looks at ownership of the flat at year-end. The 1996 UK-Argentina convention covers income and capital gains taxes, with Multilateral Instrument changes applying to UK withheld taxes from 1 January 2026. UK income tax should not be set against an Argentine asset-tax bill without a specific credit rule. The decisive question for a British owner is which assets they held on 31 December, and whether Argentine tax residence had already begun.