[Economics] Qatar dollar: why there are people who do not pay the new exchange rate despite spending more than USD 300

[Inkriql]

The "Qatar dollar", as the scheme that punishes with an extra surcharge of 25% for consumption in dollars that exceeds USD 300 per month, may have serious difficulties in being implemented. At least in the first days of operation. While the AFIP speeds up the march to try to coordinate a centralized information system that allows charging the special exchange rate to those who correspond, in the banks they warn that for now they can only apply it in a limited way.

Until Wednesday, the tourist dollar had a surcharge of 75%, 30% corresponding to the PAIS tax and 45% as an advance payment of Earnings. For the banks it did not represent any operational difficulty, since the charge corresponded to expenses for all concepts, without a taxable limit. At current prices, one dollar is 275 pesos.

Since Thursday, meanwhile, it was established that consumption in foreign currency with a credit and debit card on tickets and tourist packages that exceed USD 300 per month will pay an extra 25% advance payment of the Personal Property Tax. . The “Qatar dollar” was born, which, at current prices, reaches 314.50 pesos.

“This could cause people to try to carry out fractional consumption between different cards issued by different entities” (Domínguez)
Resolution 5272 establishes that the limit of USD 300 per month is per subject, not per card or per account. This implies that all consumption in foreign currency made with different debit, credit and fintech cards in a given period should be added up. But none of these financial service providers have data regarding what a customer does with the cards of another entity.

"This could cause people to try to make fractional consumption between different cards issued by different entities so that they do not apply the 25% perception," said Sebastián Domínguez, from SDC Tax Advisors.

"In addition, even when this can be known, the client may end up paying the credit card summary with dollars and the perception does not correspond," added the tax expert.

For banks, those kinds of strategies are impossible to detect at the moment. There could be cases in which a consumer uses cards from 4 different entities in which he charges expenses for USD 299 in each one and ends up paying an exchange rate of $275 for all those consumptions, while another client with a single credit card who consume USD 310 will end up paying a dollar of 314 pesos.

Regarding this problem, on Friday the AFIP met with chambers of the sector to discuss implementation methods.

The entity led by Carlos Castagnetto undertook at that point to provide centralized data on customer consumption so that they can charge at the exchange rate that corresponds to each user, avoiding maneuvers to avoid the surcharge.

““The implementation would be this week, so there would be a few days left to adjust just”
"The implementation would be this week, so there would be a few days left to adjust just," AFIP sources told Infobae about the technical response that the financial sector was requesting.

Implementation that, however, is already born with difficulties because not all banks have the ability to provide this information immediately.

But even with centralized data, there are still complicated details. For example, what happens to those who pay part or all of their consumption in foreign currency by credit card with US dollars.

The difference is not minor, since the regulations establish that those who exceed USD 300 of consumption pay the exchange rate of $314 for all their consumption, while those who do not exceed it pay the card dollar of $275. With which, a few dollars of difference can mean a huge cost for the consumer.

If a user uses different cards from different entities, it complicates the application of the Qatar dollar for banks
If a user uses different cards from different entities, it complicates the application of the Qatar dollar for banks
Finally, there is another issue to be defined. And it has to do with accounts with co-owners. How is the USD 300 limit computed in this case? Is it still $300 or is it doubled because there are two people involved? There is already information in the system that can help define the problem, for example in the rules that weigh on the savings dollar and that go for the most restrictive option: those who share accounts have access to only one person. But the banks ask for clear definitions for this case.

In the case of the purchase of financial dollars, faced with a similar problem, the stock exchange companies chose to ask the client for a sworn statement that establishes that he is complying with the norm (for example, that of not having bought a savings dollar in the previous 90 days to operate

 

r with MEP dollar or counted with liquidation). Thus, they are released from responsibility. But, in fact, the affidavit does not have any control: it is assumed that whoever completes it is simply complying with the rules.

While the AFIP develops a system to share data, the banks are charging the highest exchange rate to those who can
In the financial system, meanwhile, they are trying to respond according to their possibilities. There are already cases in which it was decided to put a limit of USD 300 on consumption. And, while AFIP creates the necessary system, they plan to apply the extra 25% surcharge to those who can: to those customers who consume more than USD 300 with plastics from the entity itself.

Whether or not customers who divide consumption into different cards will be able to avoid the 25% extra surcharge will depend, later, on whether the AFIP decides to make its system retroactive. Something that the agency sees as possible because consumers, since last week, knew that they were subject to the tax.

 

https://www.infobae.com/economia/2022/10/17/dolar-qatar-por-que-hay-personas-que-no-pagan-el-nuevo-tipo-de-cambio-a-pesar-de-gastar-mas-de-usd-300/