Río Negro will carry an exemption from Ingresos Brutos on lodging paid by foreign visitors inside its 2027 fiscal package. Governor Alberto Weretilneck announced the measure at a Bariloche business event on 17 September 2026. FEHGRA published the announcement on 18 September.
The Executive will send the fiscal package to the Legislature in the coming months. The province targets approval before the end of the year and the exemption in force from the 2027 summer season. Diario Río Negro reports the reform will travel inside the fiscal law.
The exemption is worth four points of the rate
Diario Río Negro puts the Ingresos Brutos exemption at 4 percent of the rate. Foreign visitors have held a 21 percent IVA rebate on lodging in Argentina since 2017. The two benefits reach about 25 percent off a hotel night.
The same report scopes the exemption to lodging. FEHGRA's own notice reads "consumos turísticos", which covers more ground than a room does.
Where the four points land
Ladevi reports that the material circulated so far names no mechanism for moving the benefit into the rate and carries no saving estimates. The terms do not state whether the 4 percent comes off the guest's bill or stays with the licensed operator. The same report states that the announcement does not allow a prediction of an automatic reduction in the price a foreign visitor pays.
The exemption lands on the establishment's tax account. The rate card is a separate decision, and it is the one a booker sees.
The revenue trade
Bariloche's private sector put the forgone provincial revenue at about 2 million dollars a year when the governor first raised the idea in July. That figure is unofficial, and Weretilneck has described the final cost as low.
The measure takes effect from the 2027 summer season, which is the window a revenue desk prices now.
Where the demand sits
Diario Río Negro reports that 15.2 percent of Bariloche visitors in 2025 came from bordering countries, Brazil and Chile most of them, and 9.7 percent from the rest of the world, out of nearly one million tourists who stayed in the city. Those two segments are the target of the exemption.
The trade's ask
The Asociación Empresaria Hotelera Gastronómica de Bariloche originated the proposal. FEHGRA backed it. FEHGRA president Daniel Prieto framed the relief around operators that meet their obligations. "Reducing the tax pressure on licensed establishments improves the competitiveness of the companies that comply with the rules, generate registered employment and make an important contribution to regional economies," he said.
Belén García Bertone, who coordinates FEHGRA's Patagonia region, cited a promotional advantage over other destinations and an incentive for operators to formalise.
The companion investment law
The announcement came alongside the presentation of the Ley de Promoción de la Inversión Turística. That law sets tax incentives for new lodging investment and carries larger benefits for localities with less tourism infrastructure.
What the record leaves open
Three items. The material circulated names no covered activities, no method for verifying a foreign visitor's spending and no start date. The fiscal cost is a private-sector estimate. The exemption requires legislative approval before any of it takes effect.