Decree 604/2026, published in the Official Gazette on July 17, 2026 and effective that same day, ended a long-standing asymmetry in Argentina's parcel regime: the same purchase abroad was taxed differently depending on whether the package entered through a private courier or through the postal door-to-door channel. The decree unifies the treatment of both channels, amends the regulations of the Customs Code (Decree 1001/82) and repeals Section 8 of Decree 161/99, the provision that kept the two schemes apart.
What Changes for Purchases from Abroad
The new Section 80 of Decree 1001/82 sets the rule for inbound postal shipments with no commercial purpose: an allowance of USD 400 per shipment, up to five shipments per person per year, exempt from import duties and the statistics fee. Above that value or count, the excess is taxed under the general import-for-consumption regime.
Two details matter. First, the exemption covers import duties and the statistics fee; the decree does not touch VAT, which follows its own rules. Second, USD 400 and five shipments a year were already the courier parameters, so the news is not the numbers but their extension to the postal channel. The post office's door-to-door service now matches private couriers, and choosing between them becomes a logistics decision rather than a tax one.
One Regime, Two Responsible Parties
The decree provides that the postal operator and the recipient are both responsible for the tax obligation under the legislation in force. For operators, this consolidates a compliance role that couriers already knew well; for buyers, it means the allowance and the yearly cap are their problem too: any excess is charged to them.
Exports: The Postal Channel Opens for Small Business
The other half of the decree looks outward. A new provision added to Decree 1001/82 allows commercial exports by post with no value limits, with the operational details left to ARCA, the tax and customs agency. Non-commercial shipments, the classic family-support parcels, may go out free of export duties up to an accumulated USD 5,000 per month per sender, except for service fees.
For a small producer selling to consumers abroad, the change is structural: the postal channel loses its value ceiling and becomes a full commercial export route without the documentary scaffolding of a traditional customs destination.
What Remains To Be Regulated
The decree is deliberately short and delegates the mechanics to ARCA: (i) how the five-shipment yearly cap will be computed and monitored, (ii) what filings the postal channel will require for uncapped commercial exports, and (iii) how courier and postal systems will adjust to the unified scheme. Until that regulation arrives, transactions above the allowance or the cap deserve case-by-case documentation.
At JFC we advise e-commerce companies, couriers and logistics operators on Argentina's customs and foreign-exchange framework and on structuring cross-border operations. If your company imports or exports through these channels, you can write to us at contact@jfcattorneys.com.