Argentine Housing Bust Has Government Dialing for Dollars - Bloomberg

Argentine Housing Bust Has Government Dialing for Dollars - Bloomberg

Tax Forgiveness
Now Fernandez is trying to revive the market by offering to forgive taxes owed on undeclared dollars if they’re invested in property. Argentines can exchange funds held abroad for central-bank issued certificates that can be used in real estate transactions and redeemed for dollars by the seller of a property.
The plan has only attracted $8.5 million since it began on July 1 because investors are wary the dollar-starved government will try to keep the greenbacks, according to Florencia Cecchini, real estate agent at Matty Pell & Asociados in Buenos Aires.
“My clients get an ulcer every time I bring up the subject,” she said. “They don’t want to hear of it because they don’t trust they’ll be able to get actual dollars.”
The Argentine government froze bank accounts and turned dollar savings into pesos at 30 percent of the value after the default.