ARGENTINA: INCOME TAX AND WEALTH TAX COLLECTION REGIME
The Argentine Official Gazette published General Resolution No. 5617/2024, establishing an Income Tax and Wealth Tax Collection Regime similar to the one established by General Resolution No. 4815 ( hereby repealed) associated with the Tax for an Inclusive and Solidary Argentina (“PAIS Tax”) – effective until December 22nd, 2024, inclusively -.
Since the PAIS Tax and the Collection Regime are two different tax obligations, the ending of the the first led to the necessary adjustment of the collection regime established by the abovementioned General Resolution.
This updated Income Tax and Wealth Tax Collection Regime is very similar to the repealed regime, including the following features:
1. Scope: This Regime applies to the transactions below:
a) Purchase of foreign currency – including traveler’s checks – made by residents, for savings or with no specific destination, connected to the payment of obligations, in line with foreign exchange applicable regulations, or for the payment of obligations concerning the import of merchandise included in the Mercosur Common Nomenclature list detailed in Annex I.
The abovementioned imports entail: i) definitive import for consumption destinations, including those performed in the Province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, and Atlantic South Islands, and ii) the introduction of merchandise into a Free-Trade Zone, including the one concerning the said areas, except those entered under a Free-Trade Zone Typification Certificate (C.T.Z.F.) issued under Resolution No. 56 of 2018, as amended.
b) Foreign currency exchange made by financial entities on the account and order of the acquirer, tenant, lessee, or provider, aimed at paying the acquisition of goods and/or provision of services made abroad, paid with credit, purchase, and/or debit cards included in the system provided by Law No. 25,065, as amended, and any other similar payment means, including those related to cash extraction or advances made abroad. Purchases made through websites or portals and/or any other modality by which the transactions are made through distance/remote purchasing in foreign currency are also included.
c) Foreign currency exchange made by financial entities on the account and order of the resident contracting person concerning services rendered by non-resident providers in the country, paid with credit, purchase, and/or debit cards included in the system provided by Law No. 25,065, as amended, and any other similar/equivalent payment means.
d) Acquisition of services abroad hired through domestic tourism and travel agencies – wholesale and retail.
e) Acquisition of land, air, and aquatic passenger transportation services with destinations abroad.
Transactions detailed in b) – e) shall not be considered subject to the collection of this Regime when performed with destination to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands.
The Collection shall apply provided thatthe payments are in Argentine Pesos and that access to the foreign exchange market is needed to acquire the relevant foreign currency.
2. Collection Agents
a) Entities authorized to operate in foreign exchange, concerning transactions of a) above.
b) Entities performing liquidations’ collections to users of credit, purchase, and/or debit cards, in the case of subsections b) and c) above.
c) Travel and tourism wholesale or retail agencies that collect the payment for services in the case of d) above.
d) Land, air, and aquatic transportation services that collect the payment of such services in the case of e) above.
If payment grouping or aggregators intervene, such intermediaries must perform the corresponding collections.
Collection agents must adjust the collection performed in their systems but they are entitled to keep the previous denomination until March 31st, 2025.
3. Collection Moment/Opportunity
The Collection must be made:
a) In the case of a) above: by the time the foreign exchange transaction is effective.
b) In the case of b) and c) above: by the time the card statement/liquidation is paid/collected, even if the payment is partially made.
c) In the case of b) and c) above paid with a debit card: on the date the debit is made from the associated account.
d) In the case of d) and e) above: on the date the payment of the hired service is made, even when it is partially paid or paid in installments – in this case, the entire collection amount must be made when the first installment is paid.
The exclusion certificate of General Resolution No. 830, as amended, does not apply.
4. Applicable Collection Rate:
30% over the amount in Argentine Pesos, as follows:
a) In the case of transactions detailed in subsections a), b), c), and d) of Article 1: over the taxable transaction’s total amount.
b) In the case of transactions detailed in subsection e) of Article 1: over price, net from taxes and fees, of every taxable transaction.
c) In the case of imports of subsection a) of Article 1: over the total amount of the transaction by which the foreign currency is purchased, and for these purposes the services detailed in Annex II and the freight and other transportation services shall not be considered.
In the case of transactions expressed in foreign currency, the conversion into local currency must be made by applying the seller-type exchange rate of the Argentine National Bank by the closing of business of the immediately prior business day before the issuance of the statement, liquidation, invoice and/or equivalent document.
5. Collection Effect
Collections made under this regime shall be considered as a payment on account of the following taxes:
a) Small Taxpayers Simplified Regime taxpayers and those who are not Income Tax taxpayers: Wealth Tax.
b) Remaining Taxpayers: Income Tax.
Also, collections made shall be considered paid tax and as such may be computed in the Income Tax or Wealth Tax annual tax return of the tax period in which the collection was made.
6. Payment of the Collected Amounts:
Payment of the collected amounts shall be made according to the provisions of General Resolution No. 2233, as amended, using the codes listed by this Act, and information concerning the collections made and the person that suffered them must also be provided.
7. Tax Refund for those who are not Income Tax or Wealth Tax taxpayers.
Those who suffered collections under this Regime and are not Income Tax and/or Wealth Tax taxpayers and who, consequently, are not able to allocate or compute such collections, are entitled to request the collected amounts once the collection’s calendar year ends.
This Act is effective December 19th, 2024.