Argentina's RIGI Explained: The 30-Year Incentive Regime for Large Investments (2026 Guide for Foreign Investors)

Most of Argentina's 2026 reforms lower the cost of doing business at the margin. The RIGI — Régimen de Incentivos para Grandes Inversiones (Incentive Regime for Large Investments) — is a different kind of instrument: a federal contract that locks in tax, customs and foreign-exchange rules for 30 years for projects above a high investment threshold. For an energy, mining or infrastructure investor weighing Argentina, it is the single most consequential piece of the legal landscape. (Official program: Argentina.gob.ar — RIGI.)

This guide explains what the RIGI actually grants, who qualifies, and the practical structure it requires — without overselling it. For the broader, source-by-source picture of Argentina's deregulation, see our regulatory opportunities radar.

What is the RIGI?

The RIGI was created by the Ley Bases (Law 27.742), approved by Congress in July 2024, and is the centerpiece of the government's bid to attract large-scale foreign capital. Its premise is simple and unusually credible for Argentina: in exchange for a major commitment, the state guarantees that the rules won't change for three decades. Projects that adhere obtain regulatory stability in tax, customs and foreign-exchange matters for 30 years from the date of adherence — and the law states those incentives cannot be undermined by later, more burdensome regulation.

That stability guarantee is the product. In a country whose chief deterrent to long-horizon capital has always been rule volatility, a 30-year lock is the thing money has been waiting for.

Who qualifies? The USD 200M threshold and the VPU

The RIGI is deliberately aimed at large investments, not at the typical foreign operating company. The key requirements:

• Minimum investment: USD 200 million as a general floor. Regulation can set higher sector-specific minimums — up to USD 900M in some cases, and the offshore oil & gas track added by Decree 105/2026 carries a USD 600M minimum in computable assets.
• Early investment: at least 40% of the minimum must be committed within the first two years.
• A Single Project Vehicle (VPU — Vehículo de Proyecto Único): the investor must set up a dedicated entity whose sole purpose is executing the approved project. The RIGI attaches to the VPU, not to the parent company's other activities.

Eligible sectors are energy, mining, infrastructure, technology, forestry-industry, tourism, steel, and oil & gas. The two with the most traction are oil & gas (Vaca Muerta) and mining (lithium and copper) — the RIGI is the regime under which most of those projects are now being structured.

The benefits, concretely

Tax

• Income tax at a flat 25%, instead of the general graduated corporate rate.
• Accelerated depreciation of capital goods.
• Tax losses with no time limit, and transferable to third parties from the fifth year.
• Dividend withholding drops to 3.5% from the seventh year after adherence.

VAT and customs

• VAT on capital goods and infrastructure can be settled with tax-credit certificates rather than financed out of pocket.
• Duty-free imports of capital goods, spare parts and components.
• Export-duty relief: exports free of withholdings (retenciones) from the third year.

Foreign exchange

This is the quiet headline. RIGI projects get progressive freedom from the obligation to liquidate export proceeds through the official FX market, and Decree 105/2026 widened how inflows are counted — capital contributions and external borrowing liquidated by the VPU's shareholders or partners now count, not only the VPU's own settled foreign currency. For a sector long constrained by the FX framework that shapes banking and treasury in Argentina, this materially changes the math on repatriating returns.

The clock: enrolment runs to July 8, 2027

The window to apply is not open-ended. The original law gave a two-year adherence period, extendable once by a year. The government exercised that extension through Decree 105/2026 (Official Gazette, Feb 19, 2026), moving the enrolment deadline to July 8, 2027, and at the same time expanded the regime — notably adding offshore oil & gas developments and clarifying that technology-based mobility includes pure-electric and hybrid drivetrains. (Decree text: Boletín Oficial — Decreto 105/2026.)

By mid-2026 the government reported a substantial pipeline — tens of billions of US dollars in committed investment across the projects already approved, with more under review. Those figures move; the authoritative, current count lives on the official RIGI page. The point for an investor is the trajectory: the regime is being used, not merely announced.

What the RIGI does not do

Three honest caveats. First, it is not for everyone: below USD 200M, the RIGI is irrelevant, and a conventional operating setup is the right path (see how to set up a company in Argentina). Second, the stability guarantee covers the incentives — it does not abolish macro risk, nor does adherence happen automatically; each project is reviewed and approved. Third, the VPU structure means the benefits are ring-fenced to the project, not to the investor's other Argentine activities. None of this is legal or tax advice — RIGI applications are structured with specialist counsel.

How to position

The RIGI rewards investors who arrive structured: a clean local vehicle, banking, accounting and a clear read on which sector minimums and benefits apply to the specific project. That groundwork is identical to what any serious entry into Argentina requires — the RIGI simply raises the stakes and the reward. Get in touch to map a large-investment project against the regime, or track Argentina's wider reform program on the radar.

Frequently asked questions