Financial Repression Tracker

Rules that steer savings into government debt or hold returns below inflation, country by country.

Block · Transaction taxes

Taxes on foreign-currency purchases and outward transfers

What it is
A levy charged when residents buy foreign currency, spend abroad or send money out of the country, either as a stand-alone tax or a rate within a broader financial-operations tax.
Why it counts
It raises the cost of moving savings into foreign currency or foreign assets, keeping domestic savings captive in local-currency instruments the state can tax or borrow from.

When it was in force

  • Argentina: 2019 → 2024, historical
  • Brazil: 2007 → now, in force; the rule may be older than the cited document
  • United States: 2026 → now, in force

3 examples

  1. Argentina

    2019 → 2024Historical

    The emergency 'PAIS' tax applied to residents' purchases of foreign banknotes and currency for hoarding, card spending abroad and similar operations, for five fiscal periods.

    Ley 27.541 de Solidaridad Social y Reactivación Productiva, Capítulo 6, art. 35 (Impuesto PAÍS)Primary source
    “Compra de billetes y divisas en moneda extranjera -incluidos cheques de viajero- para atesoramiento o sin un destino específico vinculado al pago de obligaciones”

    argentina.gob.ar (opens in a new tab)Checked: quote matched on the page by script

    Argentina today: index 40.1

  2. Brazil

    2007 → nowIn force

    The rule may be older than the cited document

    Brazil's tax on financial operations (IOF) is levied on the settlement of foreign-exchange operations (art. 11). Art. 15-B, added in 2014, set a 0.38% residual rate with many zero-rated categories and higher rates for specific outflows such as card spending abroad (6.38%); the schedule was rewritten in 2025 (Decreto 12.499/2025, e.g. 3.5% on card spending abroad).

    Decreto nº 6.306/2007 (Regulamento do IOF), Título III, arts. 11 and 15-B (IOF-Câmbio)Primary source
    “O fato gerador do IOF é a entrega de moeda nacional ou estrangeira, ou de documento que a represente, ou sua colocação à disposição do interessado”

    planalto.gov.br (opens in a new tab)Checked: quote confirmed on the page by a reviewing agent

    Brazil today: index 49.9

  3. United States

    2026 → nowIn force

    A 1% excise tax on remittance transfers funded with cash, money orders or similar physical instruments, applying to transfers after 31 December 2025.

    26 U.S.C. § 4475 (remittance transfer tax, added by Pub. L. 119-21, § 70604)Secondary source
    “There is hereby imposed on any remittance transfer a tax equal to 1 percent of the amount of such transfer.”

    law.cornell.edu (opens in a new tab)Checked: quote matched on the page by script

    United States today: index 42.9

Examples and their dates reviewed .