Do I need to pay tax on my international transfers?

Below countries levy a tax on various forms of financial transactions, including bank transfers and foreign exchanges. The tax is collected by the financial institutions that process the transactions, and is paid to the local tax authorities. The tax rates are set by the local governments, and applied to the amount of a transaction. 

 

Country

Local Currency

Tax Name

Direct Translation

Tax Rate

Argentina

ARS

Impuesto al cheque 

Tax on Credits and Debits

1.20%

Brazil

BRL

IOF (Imposto sobre Operações Financeiras)

Tax on Financial Operations

0.38%

Bolivia

BOB

ITF (Impuesto a las Transacciones Financieras)

Tax on Financial Transactions

0.3%

Colombia

COP

GMF (Gravamen a los Movimientos Financieros)

Tax on Financial Movements

0.40%

Peru

PEN

ITF (Impuesto a las Transacciones Financieras)

Tax on Financial Transactions

0.005%

 

 

How to pay this tax?

When you make transfers to the above countries, local financial institutions collect this tax automatically with each transfer created using Airwallex. You can choose to cover the tax yourself, or pass it to the recipient, just as what you can do with a transfer fee. 

How is this tax calculated?

The tax amount is calculated by multiplying the tax rate with the amount you enter when you create a transfer. If you are using the Airwallex batch transfer, the tax rate is applied on the source amount or payment amount you enter in the template. 

Example 1

You enter 1,000 BRL as the amount the recipient gets and you select USD as the currency you send. Given the tax rate in Brazil is 0.38%, the tax amount is 3.8 BRL (1,000 * 0.38%). Airwallex then converts 3.8 BRL to the USD amount using the foreign exchange rate at the time. 

Example 2

You enter 1,000 USD as the amount you send and select BRL as the currency recipient gets. Given the tax rate in Brazil is 0.38%, the tax amount is 3.8 USD (1,000*0.38%).