VAT return
In Argentina there is a 21% value-added on most products and services. At the airport you may obtain a VAT reimbursement corresponding to any purchases made within the country for an amount over $70 (per invoice) and in shops operating with the “Global Refund” system.

Opening hours
Banks and Exchange Bureaus: Mondays to Fridays from 10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.
Business Offices: generally from 9.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m. and from 2.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m.
Stores: in the big cities from 9.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m., although in the outskirts and the provinces they generally close at midday. Saturdays, from 9.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.
Cafés, cake shops and pizzerias: open most of the time except between 2.00 and 6.00 a.m.
Restaurants: lunch is served as from 12.30 p.m. and dinner as from 8.30 hours. Fast-food menus are served in many restaurants at all times.

Tips
10% of the amount of the check is usually left in cafeterias and restaurants. Doormen, porters, and ushers in cinemas and theatres are also generally tipped. It is not common to tip taxi drivers.

Safety
Argentina is one of the safest countries in Latin America. However, as in any other big city in the world, you should take all the usual precautions to protect your valuables and personal belongings while in Buenos Aires. Here are a few useful pieces of advice you might want to follow:

Leave your passport, ticket, valuable belongings and cash at home. Always carry a copy of your passport with you. Never show big amounts of money while paying on the street. Never leave your purse, camera, notebook, shopping bags or other objects unattended. Always ask for a receipt in stores. Women should not walk alone after dark on deserted streets. Make sure your luggage is locked when traveling by bus or airplane.

Health
Argentina has good health and sanitary services. Here are a few helpful tips:

Use plenty of sunscreen to prevent burning, due to the thinning of the ozone layer. In Buenos Aires, extreme humidity and unusual pollen conditions can affect asthma sufferers, especially if they stay longer than a month. Cholera is not a threat in the cities and only a minor one in the north lowland areas.

Courtesy
If you know a person, you may kiss him/her hello. Otherwise, shaking hands is the customary way of greeting.

Telephone
There are two telephone companies in Argentina: Telephonica and Telecom. Pay phones work with cards that may be purchased in kiosks and telephone companies offices, or with legal tender coins. Credits vary depending on the call you wish to make. The cards may be used either in public or private phones, since you don’t need to insert the card in the phone. Just call the company indicated on the card, toll-free. There are also stores with pay phones (open 24 hours a day) where you can pay in cash. Operators speak Spanish, English or Portuguese in most cases. Phone calls are usually less expensive if made with these cards.
Calling to Argentina from abroad, dial the country code (54) and then the area code of the place you want to call. For domestic calls, dial 0 before the area code. For international calls, dial 00, the country code and city code.
Note that tariffs are reduced from 10.00 p.m. to 8.00 a.m.

Mail
It usually takes 10 days to receive a letter from the US and longer if it is from Europe. Letters from Argentina take 15 days to reach the US and Europe.

Food and Drinks
Lunch is eaten between 12:00pm –3:00 pm. Lots of people go to a café around 5:00 pm for coffee or tea, sandwiches and cake. Dinner usually starts around 8:30pm, but we use to dine earlier, following our guests customs. The tapwater in most main cities is heavily chlorinated and does not taste very good.