ArgentinaTL;DR: For employees, no: statutory salary in Argentina must be paid in pesos, to an Argentine bank account. For contractors, yes: they can invoice you in USD and keep the money in dollars. On Shor, contractors hold their earnings in USD and withdraw to pesos when they choose, with a flat disclosed 2% FX applied only when money actually converts, for $19/month per contractor.
Argentina is the market where this question comes up most, and for good reason. After decades of inflation and on-and-off currency controls, Argentine professionals think about their rate in dollars whether or not you pay them in dollars. Here's exactly what's allowed, and how to set it up.
The short answer
It depends entirely on one thing: is this person an employee or a contractor?
Employees: no. Argentine statutory salary must be paid in pesos (ARS) to an Argentine bank account, on a monthly payroll that includes the mandatory SAC (the 13th salary, paid half in June and half in December). This is labor law, not a platform limitation, and any provider promising USD salaries for Argentine employees deserves hard questions.
Contractors: yes. An independent contractor invoices you as a business. That invoice can be denominated in USD, and how the contractor holds or converts the money afterward is their decision. In Argentina, nearly all of them choose dollars.
One warning before anything else: the classification has to be real. Reclassifying someone who works like an employee as a contractor so you can pay them in dollars trades a currency problem for a much more expensive legal one. Argentina is not a market where you want a misclassification dispute.
Why USD pay matters in Argentina
Argentina's inflation has improved dramatically, and it is still the highest of any major remote-talent market.
Annual inflation hit 211.4% in 2023, the highest in over three decades, then slowed to 117.8% for full-year 2024. It has kept falling since. Year-on-year inflation was 33.5% in June 2026 and 33.8% in July, with prices up 16.8% in the first half of 2026 alone. The central bank's REM survey of private forecasters expects monthly inflation below 2% from August onward and about 30% for full-year 2026, which would be the best year in a decade and is still high by any other market's standard.
The currency mechanics changed this year too, and it is worth knowing if you are budgeting. Since January 2026 the peso has floated inside a band set by the central bank, with the edges adjusted in line with published inflation. The practical effect is that the official and parallel rates have converged: at the end of July 2026 a dollar cost about 1,510 pesos at a bank and about 1,560 informally, a gap of roughly 3%, against the much wider spreads Argentines navigated in previous years. Managed is not the same as fixed, and the same REM survey puts the peso near 1,673 to the dollar by year end.
Run the math on what that means for a peso earner. At about 34% annual inflation, money that sits in pesos for six months loses a meaningful slice of its purchasing power before it gets spent. At the rates Argentines lived through in 2023 and 2024, a month's delay was a pay cut. That's why Argentine contractors have worked for foreign clients in dollars for years: a USD-denominated rate holds its purchasing power while the contractor decides when to convert. That's a stability point, not an investment strategy, and it's the entire reason this page exists.
For you as the employer, the flip side is cost predictability: a USD rate means your books see the same number every month, instead of quarterly catch-up conversations that are really inflation adjustments.
Paying employees in Argentina: what the law requires
If you hire an Argentine employee (directly or through an employer of record), salary is paid in pesos to an Argentine bank account, with registered payroll, social contributions, and the SAC on top. Our Argentina country guide covers the full employer math, including the roughly 26-30% statutory load on top of gross salary.
You may run into references to Argentine salary arrangements involving dollars. Treat them with caution: the statutory default is pesos, the rules in this area have shifted repeatedly, and anything beyond peso payroll needs an Argentine employment lawyer looking at your specific case before you rely on it. We are not that lawyer, and this page is not legal advice.
What compliant employers actually do instead:
- Pay salary in pesos, index reviews to the dollar. Set an expectation (in conversation, and where appropriate in policy) that compensation is reviewed against a USD reference on a fixed schedule. In Argentina that schedule needs to be frequent; local employers adjust salaries multiple times a year.
- Keep the adjustment cadence honest. A once-a-year review in a 33% inflation environment is a real-terms pay cut by month six. Quarterly is closer to market practice.
This keeps you inside the law while addressing the thing the employee actually cares about: their purchasing power.
Paying contractors in Argentina in USD
For genuine contractors, USD pay is straightforward, and this is where most US companies hiring Argentine talent land. On Shor it works like this:
- Contractors invoice in USD or pesos, their choice. Contracts, W-8BEN collection, and invoicing are built in.
- The money stays in USD. No forced conversion on arrival. Most platforms convert a "USD payment" to pesos the moment it lands, which protects the contractor for exactly zero days. Holding is the feature.
- They withdraw to pesos when they choose, over local rails, same-day. This week's rent in pesos today, the rest staying in dollars until they need it.
- Conversion costs a flat disclosed 2%, shown before the money moves, and only when money actually converts.
- For you: $19/month per contractor. No setup fees, month-to-month.
The deeper version of the employer case (retention, cost predictability, why holding matters more than denomination) is in our guide to paying international contractors in USD.
FAQ
Can I pay employees in Argentina in USD? No. Statutory salary must be paid in pesos to an Argentine bank account, with registered payroll and the mandatory SAC. The compliant alternative is peso salary with frequent, USD-referenced compensation reviews. Anything beyond that needs Argentine counsel.
Can I pay contractors in Argentina in USD? Yes. Independent contractors can invoice a foreign client in USD, and in Argentina nearly all of them prefer to. On Shor they invoice in USD, keep the money in dollars, and withdraw to pesos when they choose.
Do Argentine contractors have to convert to pesos as soon as they're paid? Not on Shor. There is no forced conversion on arrival; the contractor holds their balance in USD and converts on their own timing, at a flat disclosed 2% shown before the money moves.
Does paying an Argentine contractor in USD cost me more? No. It's the same $19/month per contractor, and the 2% FX applies only when the contractor converts to pesos, which is their choice and effectively their side of the transaction.