If you are a foreigner and need to obtain a tax ID in Argentina, you need a CUIT: the 11-digit number issued by ARCA, Argentina’s tax authority, that you will be asked for when you open a bank account, buy or sell property, collect rent, invoice clients, receive an inheritance or incorporate a company.
In this article we explain, step by step, how to obtain a Tax ID in Argentina for foreigners. Choose your situation and go straight to your guide:
In both cases, Kier Joffe handles the whole process and gets your Argentina CUIT for you, so you never have to deal with ARCA, notaries or apostilles on your own.
What is a CUIT, and what changed in 2026?
CUIT stands for Clave Única de Identificación Tributaria (Unique Tax Identification Number). It is the number ARCA (the Agencia de Recaudación y Control Aduanero, formerly AFIP) uses to identify every individual and company before the Argentine tax system. It has 11 digits, and getting it from ARCA is free.
You may also hear about two similar codes:
- CUIL (Código Único de Identificación Laboral): the labor and social security number, issued by ANSES. For people who have a CUIT, it is the same 11-digit number.
- CDI (Clave de Identificación): a transitional code that used to be given to foreigners who needed to complete a single procedure, such as buying property.
Important change: under ARCA General Resolution 5803/2025, in force since March 2, 2026, the CDI was eliminated for individuals and replaced by the CUIT, even when the person is a foreigner. CDIs issued before that date remain valid, but they convert into a CUIT when the holder needs to update any data.
Who needs a CUIT as a foreigner?
You will typically need one if you want to:
- Buy, sell or rent out real estate in Argentina, or buy a car or other registered vehicle
- Receive rental income or other income from Argentine sources
- Open a bank account or work with local financial institutions
- Incorporate or become a partner in an Argentine company
- Work as an independent professional or issue invoices to clients
- Hire employees or register as an employer
- Handle an inheritance or a probate in Argentina
- Apply for certain residency categories that involve local income or investments
If you only visit Argentina as a tourist and have no income, assets or contracts here, you generally do not need one.
How we handle your situation
- Foreigner outside Argentina: you sign a power of attorney by video call, and our Principal attorney, Elias Kier Joffe, acts as your representative and registers you with ARCA. Result: CUIT.
- Foreigner in Argentina without residency, and therefore without a DNI: you come to our office by appointment and sign a special power of attorney in favor of our lead attorney, Elias Kier Joffe, who obtains your CUIT. Result: CUIT.
- Foreigner in Argentina with residency in process, no DNI yet: we prepare and file your registration under ARCA’s special procedure for foreigners without a DNI. Result: provisional CUIT, valid up to 2 years or until your residency expires.
- Foreigner in Argentina with a DNI: we register you with ARCA using your DNI. Result: CUIT and registration certificate.
Guide 1 · You are outside ArgentinaHow we get you a CUIT if you are a foreigner outside Argentina
ARCA requires individuals who live abroad to request the CUIT through a representative with an address in Argentina. At Kier Joffe, your representative is our Principal attorney, Elias Kier Joffe, and you never need to travel.
- Tell us why you need the CUIT. A property purchase, a company, an inheritance, rental income. We confirm what ARCA requires for your specific case.
- Send us your passport. A copy of your valid passport is the core document. We tell you if anything else is needed.
- Sign the power of attorney on a video call. The power of attorney is prepared in English by our attorneys, and you sign it before our own U.S. notary public. You do not have to look for a notary in your city, go to their office, or pay extra to have a notary come to your home or workplace. We schedule a video call with our U.S. notary public, and you sign digitally, no matter which state or city of the United States you are in. Our U.S. notary then notarizes the document, handles the apostille and sends it directly to our firm.
Documents signed abroad need an apostille to be valid in Argentina. The apostille is a certificate, issued under the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention by the competent authority of the state where the document was notarized (usually its Secretary of State), that confirms the notary’s signature and seal are genuine. Both the United States and Argentina are parties to the Convention, so no consular legalization is needed.
- We take care of the rest. Once our U.S. notary public sends us the apostilled power of attorney electronically, we take it from there. A power of attorney always needs a sworn translation into Spanish to be valid in Argentina. The translation must be done by a sworn translator in Argentina and legalized by the Colegio de Traductores Públicos de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires (the Buenos Aires Sworn Translators Association, the official body that certifies that a sworn translator’s signature is genuine and that the translator is duly registered). We take care of it with our own sworn translator for every power of attorney from the United States, and we file your registration with ARCA as your representative.
- You receive your CUIT. Once we file, ARCA takes a maximum of 10 calendar days, and it can be sooner depending on its workload. We send you your number and registration certificate, ready to use with banks, notaries, registries, buyers or tenants.
Because our attorneys draft the power of attorney themselves, it covers exactly what ARCA and your transaction require.
Guide 2 · You are already in ArgentinaHow we get you a CUIT if you are a foreigner already in Argentina
The route depends on your status in Argentina: whether you have no residency, residency in process, or an Argentine DNI (the national ID card issued to residents).
If you are in Argentina without residency, and therefore without a DNI
This is the case of visitors and new arrivals who have not obtained temporary or permanent residency yet. You do not have to deal with ARCA: you sign a special power of attorney in favor of our lead attorney, Elias Kier Joffe, and we obtain the CUIT for you.
- Tell us why you need the CUIT. A property or car purchase, a company, an inheritance, rental income. We confirm what ARCA requires for your case.
- If you are not fluent in Spanish, we prepare a “minuta” first. Argentine deeds must be written in Spanish, and the notary, as a public official, must be satisfied that you truly understand what you are signing. Saying “I understand Spanish” is not enough: you need to be able to read, speak and understand it well enough to follow the full deed as the notary reads it to you. If you cannot, Article 302 of the Civil and Commercial Code requires the deed to be based on a minuta: a short document in English that sets out the essential terms of the power of attorney. You review and sign it in English, a sworn public translator translates it into Spanish, and the notary drafts the deed from that translation. Both documents are kept in the notary’s protocol.Skipping this step to save time or cost is a real risk: a power of attorney signed by someone who did not understand it can later be challenged, and the notary may refuse to execute it. The minuta protects you and the validity of your CUIT application.
- Come to our office by appointment and sign the special power of attorney. It authorizes Elias Kier Joffe to request your CUIT before ARCA. In Argentina, a power of attorney is signed as a public deed (escritura pública), in the presence of a public notary (escribano público), and recorded in the notarial protocol. The protocol is the notary’s official register of deeds, made of numbered pages kept in chronological order and held in the notary’s custody, from which certified copies are issued. These are the same formalities required to buy a house: it is a very formal act, and it gives your power of attorney full legal weight.
- We file your registration with ARCA as your representative.
- You receive your CUIT and your registration certificate, ready to use with banks, notaries, registries, dealerships, buyers or tenants. Once we file, ARCA takes a maximum of 10 calendar days, and it can be sooner depending on its workload.
If you have started your residency but do not have a DNI yet
ARCA has a special procedure for foreigners who live in Argentina without a DNI. We prepare and file it for you, using your passport or national ID and your migration documents. If approved, ARCA issues a provisional CUIT, valid for up to 2 years or for the duration of your temporary or transitory residency. ARCA takes a maximum of 10 calendar days from the filing, and it can be sooner depending on its workload.
Once you get your DNI, the provisional CUIT must be replaced within 10 business days. We track that deadline and file the update for you, so your tax registration never lapses.
If you already have a DNI
We register you with ARCA using your DNI and your real address, and you receive your CUIT and your registration certificate. ARCA takes a maximum of 10 calendar days from the filing, and it can be sooner depending on its workload.
After you get your CUIT
The CUIT identifies you, but to operate you will usually need two more things. We can set up both:
- Clave Fiscal (tax key). The password to ARCA’s online services. Foreigners without a DNI generally cannot complete the biometric identity validation through the ARCA Móvil app, so a higher security level may require an in-person visit to an ARCA agency. We guide you through it.
- Registration of your activity or taxes. Depending on why you got the CUIT (rental income, an independent activity, a company, a property sale), you may need to register in the corresponding tax regime. Registering does not by itself mean you owe taxes: your obligations depend on your income, assets and activity.
Any change in the data reported to obtain the CUIT must be communicated to ARCA within 10 business days. We handle those updates too.
Common mistakes that delay a CUIT
Most delays come from the same few errors. Our attorneys avoid them for you:
- Asking for a CDI. Many online guides are outdated. Since March 2026 individuals, including foreigners, must obtain a CUIT instead.
- A power of attorney that is too generic. If it does not expressly cover ARCA registration, the representative may be unable to file.
- Missing the apostille or the sworn translation. The document is rejected or delayed.
- Letting a provisional CUIT lapse. After getting a DNI, the replacement has to be filed within 10 business days.
- Mismatched names or data. The name on the passport, the power of attorney and the registration must match exactly.
- Not reporting changes. Changes in your data must be notified to ARCA within 10 business days.
Frequently asked questions
Can a foreigner get a CUIT without being in Argentina?
Yes. Individuals who live abroad must request it through a representative with an address in Argentina. At Kier Joffe, our Principal attorney, Elias Kier Joffe, acts as your representative, and you sign the power of attorney by video call, without traveling.
Is the CUIT the same as the CUIL or the CDI?
For people who have a CUIT, the CUIL is the same 11-digit number. The CDI no longer exists for individuals: since March 2, 2026 it was replaced by the CUIT. Previously issued CDIs stay valid until the holder needs to update data.
How much does it cost to get a CUIT?
ARCA does not charge for the registration. What you pay depends on where you are when you sign the power of attorney.
If you are in Argentina, your costs are the fees of the public notary (escribano público) on our team, who executes the power of attorney as a public deed, plus, if you are not fluent in Spanish: the sworn translation of your signed minuta into Spanish, done by our sworn translator; and the legalization of that translation by the Colegio de Traductores Públicos, personalized with the data of the person obtaining the CUIT (first name, last name and passport number).
If you are abroad, your costs are the remote notarization and apostille by our U.S. notary public, the sworn translation of the power of attorney in Argentina by our sworn translator, and our professional fee.
Contact us and we will quote your case.
How long does it take?
Once we file your registration, ARCA always takes the same time: a maximum of 10 calendar days, and it can be sooner depending on the agency’s workload. Before that, we need your signed power of attorney with its sworn translation (and the apostille if you are abroad), so that first part depends on how soon you can sign and how ready your documents are.
Do I need a CUIT to buy property in Argentina?
In practice, yes. Argentine notaries and registries will ask for the tax ID of the buyer and the seller to execute the deed, so foreign buyers normally get their CUIT before closing.
Do I need a CUIT to buy a car in Argentina?
Yes. Foreigners need a CUIT to buy a car in Argentina, because registering a vehicle in your name requires the buyer’s tax ID. It is best to get your CUIT before you close the purchase. We can handle it together with the purchase paperwork.
Do I need a CUIT if I am only visiting as a tourist?
No. You need it when you have income, assets, contracts or activities in Argentina that require a tax identity.
Can I get a CUIT with a tourist visa or without residency?
Yes, in the cases above: non-residents can register through a representative. Foreigners living in Argentina who have a migration file but no DNI can get a provisional CUIT.
Does the CUIT expire?
A regular CUIT has no fixed expiration date. A provisional CUIT for foreigners without a DNI is valid for up to 2 years or for the duration of the residency granted, and must be replaced once you get your DNI.
Does getting a CUIT mean I will have to pay taxes in Argentina?
Not by itself. Your tax obligations depend on your income, assets and activity. It is worth getting tax advice before you register for any specific regime.
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Requirements are set by ARCA and can change. This article is general information, not legal advice.