In brief

On 15 August 2023, Resolution No. 5403/2023 (“Resolution“) was published in the official gazette. Through this Resolution, the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) reduced the collection regime for certain transactions covered by the Tax on the Acquisition of Foreign Currency (“Tax“) from 25% to 5%. The Resolution will apply to operations carried out as of 15 August 2023.

In focus

1. General considerations

• On 15 August 2023, the Resolution was published in the official gazette.
• The Tax was created by Law No. 27,541 of Social Solidarity and Productive Reactivation in the framework of Public Emergency (“Emergency Law“) in December 2019 and is applicable to Argentine tax residents (at rates of 30% or 8% depending on the transactions) for the following activities:
  • Acquisition by Argentine residents of foreign currency — including travel checks — for savings or without any specific purpose related to the payment of obligations under the terms of the existing FX regulations
  • Exchange of foreign currency made by Argentine financial entities, in the name of a local party, to pay for goods acquired or services rendered abroad, cancelled using a credit, purchase or debit card or any other payment method determined by the regulations, including extractions of cash made abroad (acquisitions made using websites and any other type of operations that imply a remote acquisition of foreign currency are also included)
  • Exchange of foreign currency made by Argentine financial entities for payment, in the name of a local party, of services rendered by nonresident parties, cancelled by credit, purchase or debit cards, as well as any other payment method determined by the regulations
  • Acquisition of services abroad using the travel and tourism agencies of Argentina
  • Acquisition of land, air and water passenger transportation services for destinations outside of Argentina and for which it is necessary to acquire foreign currency for payment

2. Subjects liable for the collection regime at a 5% rate

• Taxpayers liable for the collection regime at 5% are individuals or legal entities, undivided estates and other taxpayers residing in the country, who (i) carry out transactions covered by the Tax mentioned in item 1. b) and c) if the payments exceed the amount of USD 300 per person and per month; (ii) carry out transactions for any amount mentioned in item 1. d) and e); or (iii) import ‘sumptuous’ goods listed in Decree 682/2022.
• Purchase of foreign currency for savings is not affected by the 5% collection regime.

3. Collection agents

• The subjects designated by the Emergency Law, such as financial entities, travel and tourism agencies and transport companies in Argentina, must act as collection agents.
• In the event that intermediaries intervene in such payments, they must apply the corresponding collection.

4. Characteristics of the collection

• The collected tax rate will be 5% on the amounts in Argentine currency (ARS) of each operation reached by the Tax.
• The collection will be computable in the annual tax return of the Personal Assets Tax (PAT), when collected from an individual or undivided estate, or of the Income Tax (IT) when collected from other taxpayers (corporations), corresponding to the fiscal year in which the payments were made.
• If the collections generate a tax credit, it will be applied for the cancellation of other Federal tax obligations, or request its reimbursement.
• If subjects who are not taxpayers of the IT or the PAT paid the collection, they may request the reimbursement of the payments made once the calendar year is concluded.

5. Effective date

• The Resolution will be applicable to operations carried out as of 15 August 2023.

Click here to read the Spanish version.