For those who went on a trip abroad this vacation, the time will soon come to
pay the bill
for expenses made abroad with the credit card.
Paying off that debt, with the exchange rate still in force, can have a strong impact on the pocket because the bank will automatically settle the consumption according to the so-called
"tourist" or "card" quote
.
And that exchange rate is currently
the most expensive on the market
, because it includes a
60% surcharge
on the official value (which in turn comes from jumping almost 120% in December).
The traveler, however, can resort to a
100% legal maneuver
that allows them to pay off their expenses in foreign currency
while sacrificing
fewer pesos
.
The trick is
not to pay
the
dollar balance
of the statement with pesos, but with your own dollars purchased
through another means
at a lower price.
These days the move allows
savings of more than 10%
, although to do it without problems there are some
precautions
to take.
In this note, a step-by-step
guide
and everything you need to know.
Paying the card with dollars today may be more convenient.
Photo: Bloomberg.
Credit card: what is the appeal now of paying your statement with dollars?
For example, if upon returning from a trip someone received a summary with
US$800
of consumption made in hotels, restaurants and foreign supermarkets, in the current "tourist dollar" that would represent close to
$1,078,000
, taking the value of Friday, January 26.
Because?
Because to the official quote of $842.75, a 30% surcharge
for the PAIS tax and
another 30%
of a collection on account of Profits or Personal Assets
are added .
Expenses abroad, thus, ended this Friday being pesified at a total cost of
$1,348 per dollar
.
On the other hand, if the debt was covered
with dollars
, the market offered options to obtain the necessary "greens" by paying about
$1,180
each.
with the MEP Bag Dollar modality or
$1,220
in the informal market.
For the traveler in the example, then, resorting to the MEP this Friday allowed him to pay about $944 thousand
for the US$800 consumption
instead of $1,078,000.
That is,
$134 thousand less
.
You saved
12%
.
Many people, in fact, are also using this mechanism
before traveling
.
Pre-purchase the dollars you plan to spend abroad with the card in order to
ensure the current MEP exchange rate
, thus covering yourself from a possible new devaluation.
How do you do the trick to pay less for card expenses in dollars?
The key is that the "tourist dollar", with its 60% surcharge, is applied only when a consumer
pays
the dollar balance on their credit card statement with pesos.
However, the user can also choose to pay these expenses by handing over dollars that they already have in their savings account or that
they deposit before the
settlement expires.
And in that case, since there is no exchange operation involved,
the surcharges do not apply
.
But the issue has its complications and usually
generates doubts
.
First, because the summary is prepared assuming that the dollar balance will be pesified.
Then, the two "card dollar" surcharges, which
are settled in pesos
, appear
already included
in the
total in pesos
to be paid.
The second difficulty is that many users
have the card automatically debited
, either for the total payment or for the minimum, which is activated on the expiration day,
also assuming pesoification
.
So, before paying the dollar balance with dollars, you will have to take care of stopping the automatic debit.
And then pay the part of the pesos,
manually deducting the surcharges
.
In many banks all management can be done online.
Photo: Shutterstock.
Step by step, how to pay the dollar balance on the card with dollars to avoid problems?
Banks warn that payment in dollars is only available until the
settlement
due date .
And to avoid inconveniences, you will have to follow these
three basic steps
:
1. Request a "stop debit"
.
It involves asking the bank not to apply the automatic debit this time.
It can be done online, by phone or by other means, and will be key to
avoiding duplicate charges
.
2. Pay the balance in dollars with dollars
.
Many banks allow you to do it through home banking or in self-service machines with funds from your own savings account in dollars.
You can also take the dollars in cash to a branch.
3. Pay the balance in pesos with pesos
.
It can be done online or at the bank.
But in this case, instead of paying the total pesos that appears in the summary, the surcharges identified as "COUNTRY Tax" (30%) and as "Perception RG 4815" or "RG 5463" can be subtracted from that sum ( 30%).
In this way, both surcharges can be left unpaid
without generating interest
.
And if due to some error the taxes were paid, the money must be returned as soon as possible or remain in favor for the next settlement.
Can the "tourist dollar" also be avoided if consumption is made with a debit card?
Yeah
.
If the traveler has an account in pesos and
also one in dollars
, both linked to the same debit card,
he can choose
which of the two accounts will be debited every time he purchases abroad.
This option may be available through
home banking
or through other means that the bank offers.
So, if the debit is programmed
in pesos
, the amount of each consumption will be immediately pesified at the official exchange rate plus the 60% surcharge.
To avoid this, the debit must be
previously configured in dollars
.
In this way, the bank will deduct the dollar amount of the operation from the account, without the PAIS tax or the collection.
It will use the foreign currency deposited there, which may have been purchased before at a
price lower
than the "card" quote.
The objective: pay the smallest amount of pesos possible for each dollar.
Photo: AFP.
Is there any disadvantage to avoiding the tourist dollar by paying with your own dollars?
A possible disadvantage is that the consumer loses the opportunity to
recover a part
of what was paid.
It happens that, if consumption in dollars is pesified, whoever makes a procedure with the AFIP will later be able
to deduct from their taxes
or collect
the 30% payment as a
refund (not the PAIS tax).
Therefore, when you finally recover 30%, each dollar will have been paid at a final value of less than $1,100 (official + 30%), which would seem like a good deal since today it is cheaper than the MEP and the blue.
However, the problem is that the money returned to the pocket
only returns the
following year
and
without updating
for inflation.
For example, if the 30% payment is paid in the first months of 2024, we will have to
wait until 2025
.
Therefore, when the amounts recover, it is most likely that their purchasing power will already be greatly reduced.
MDG