AFIP is gone. ARCA is what you'll deal with.
Search Argentine taxes and you meet two names: AFIP and ARCA. They are the same agency at the same desks, separated by one reform. AFIP – the Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos – ran Argentine tax and customs collection from 1997 until October 2024, when Decree 953/2024 dissolved it and transferred its powers to a new body, ARCA, the Agencia de Recaudación y Control Aduanero. The old address, afip.gob.ar, now redirects to arca.gob.ar, which is why pre-2025 articles still carry the AFIP name.
For a Canadian, the practical summary is short. Your obligations did not change with the sign on the building. If a residency category, a form, or a filing deadline existed under AFIP, it continues under ARCA unless a separate reform changed it, and the agency's own pages are the authority on that. What did change is naming: any official process now says ARCA, and paperwork or advice that still says AFIP is either outdated or historical. This page covers what Canadians actually use the agency for, because almost every step of settling – getting paid, renting legitimately, importing goods, filing a return – ends with an ARCA login at some point.
Why the old name still follows you around
The confusion is not your fault. The AFIP acronym ruled daily life for nearly three decades, so it survives in news archives, blog posts, Facebook groups, and accountants' muscle memory. When someone in an expat thread mentions an AFIP appointment, they mean ARCA. A form PDF still carrying an AFIP logo is usually a cached copy of a document ARCA now issues under its own header.
One warning is worth stating plainly: verify that any page or email claiming to be the tax agency actually lands on arca.gob.ar. Phishing that exploits a rename – 'AFIP has been replaced, update your credentials' – is exactly the kind of message the transition makes believable. The agency's real services sit behind the official domain and an in-person or app-verified clave fiscal, never behind a link in an unsolicited email.
The numbers ARCA assigns you, in order
Three identifiers matter to a settling Canadian, all administered in the ARCA ecosystem. The CUIT (Código Único de Identificación Tributaria) is the tax number behind almost everything commercial: invoicing, monotributo, certain leases, some bank products. Newcomers on a temporary residence category can obtain one, usually after the DNI arrives from the civil registry. Non-residents with only isolated transactions may instead receive a CDI, a lighter tax code.
The CUIL is a related number tied to formal employment and social security; it is assigned through the social-security administration (ANSES) when an Argentine employer registers a worker. The practical ordering: DNI first, from the civil registry, then the tax number that matches your situation – CUIT to invoice or join a simplified regime, CDI for isolated transactions, CUIL through a formal job. The DNI and CUIT guides cover where most Canadians spend their waiting-room hours.
Monotributo: the simplified regime most freelancers choose
If you will earn Argentine income – invoicing local clients, teaching, renting a room legitimately – the regime you will hear about constantly is the monotributo. It folds income tax and social-security contributions into one monthly payment, with categories set by your expected revenue. Registration, category changes and the monthly payment all happen through ARCA's online systems, once you hold a clave fiscal, the agency's login credential. The clave fiscal comes in security levels, and the higher levels unlock the full self-service portal; a first clave can be issued online and upgraded in person with your DNI.
Filing, paying and the Canadian comparison
Argentina's annual income tax return (ganancias, for those outside the simplified regime) and the wealth tax (Bienes Personales) are filed through ARCA's online portal with a clave fiscal, in the months after the December close of the Argentine tax year. Compared with a CRA session, expect more of the load-bearing work to happen in advance: Argentine returns lean on withholdings and on data the agency already holds, so the annual filing can be lighter than a Canadian return – or heavier, if your income mixes Argentine and foreign sources and needs manual treatment.
Cross-border questions – which country taxes your Canadian pension withdrawals, how rental income from a condo in Toronto is treated once you live in Mendoza, what happens to RRSPs – are treaty questions, not ARCA-portal questions. Canada and Argentina have a tax treaty in force, and the treaty guide in this series works through it. The order of operations that avoids most grief: settle your Argentine tax residence question first, then decide how each Canadian income stream is characterized, then file in Argentina for the years you actually owe. Doing it backwards – filing somewhere 'to be safe' before resolving residence – creates the double-filing mess that treaty articles exist to untangle.
A working checklist for your first ARCA errands
Most Canadians touch the agency in one of four moments: registering a tax number after the DNI, choosing a monotributo category, generating a clave fiscal, or paying an import charge. All four start at arca.gob.ar. Forms run in Spanish; a traductor público's help is legitimate insurance for anything consequential.
The habits that keep the file clean are the ones an Argentine accountant would insist on: register promptly, keep every comprobante (invoice or receipt) because receipts connect to your tax identity, screenshot the category tables you rely on, and recheck the official page before paying. The agency's own systems are the single source of truth; everything else, including this guide, is a recently drawn map, not the terrain.
Sources
- ARCA – official site · Agencia de Recaudación y Control Aduanero
- InfoLEG — Argentine legislation database (Decree 953/2024, creation of ARCA) · InfoLEG, Ministerio de Justicia y Derechos Humanos
- Monotributo – official information · ARCA
Official pages change without notice. Every guide on this site is re-checked against its sources; the checked date for this one is September 15, 2026.
Questions Canadians ask about this
Is ARCA the same as AFIP?
Yes. ARCA (Agencia de Recaudación y Control Aduanero) replaced AFIP in October 2024 under Decree 953/2024 and took over its staff, powers and obligations. The old afip.gob.ar domain now redirects to arca.gob.ar. Any process you find described under the AFIP name is now handled by ARCA.
Do I need a CUIT as a Canadian living in Argentina?
If you will invoice Argentine clients, join the monotributo regime, or run certain rental or business activity, you will register a CUIT with ARCA after obtaining your DNI. Canadians who remain non-residents for tax purposes and only have isolated transactions may instead use a CDI. Formal employment generates a CUIL through the employer's paperwork.
Why do websites and groups still say AFIP?
The AFIP name was in daily use from 1997 to 2024, so it persists in news archives, forums and older forms. Treat current official instructions under the AFIP name with caution: check that the page you are reading lives on arca.gob.ar and confirms the process is current before relying on it.
Can I register for monotributo as a temporary resident?
Temporary residents can generally register a CUIT and join the monotributo once they hold a DNI and a clave fiscal, and many freelancers do exactly that. Confirm your category on ARCA's official monotributo page, since the revenue thresholds are revised periodically.
Does Canada's CRA know what I file with ARCA?
The two agencies do not run a joint portal, but Canada and Argentina have a tax treaty in force that governs which country taxes which income, and Canadian residents may still owe Canadian filings on worldwide income depending on their residence status. Read the guide on Canadian tax residence and the treaty guide before your first Argentine filing year, and consider a cross-border accountant for the transition year.
For advice on your own case
Guides can’t weigh your specific history. When it matters — prior refusals, family petitions, income questions — we recommend Lucero Legal, an Argentina immigration firm working in native-level English.