On October 19, 2020, Argentina’s Federal Tax Authority (AFIP, for its acronym in Spanish) issued General Resolution 4838/2020, which establishes an information regime on tax planning (hereinafter the Tax Planning Regime), including regulations for its implementation.
The most relevant aspects of the Tax Planning Regime are the following:
- An informative regime for national and international tax planning is established for those legal entities and individuals who seek to obtain any fiscal advantage or any other benefit relating to tax matters.
- The regime defines those circumstances under which it is understood that there is international tax planning.
- The obligation to inform about tax planning is established for those subjects who are benefited taxpayers or tax advisors.
- Fiscal advantage
It is considered a fiscal advantage for the taxpayer to either directly or indirectly decrease taxation obligations.
- National and international tax planning
- National tax planning is defined as any agreement, scheme, plan or action resulting from a tax advantage or any benefit in favor of taxpayers that is developed within the Argentine Republic.
- International tax planning is defined as any agreement, scheme, plan or action resulting from a tax advantage or any benefit in favor of taxpayers that involves the Argentine Republic and another jurisdiction abroad. International tax planning shall be deemed to exist when:
- Companies are used to take advantage of agreements that seek to avoid double taxation, to avoid the status of permanent establishment, to produce a result of double international non-taxation, to allow several tax bases in foreign taxes or to avoid an information regime.
- Non-cooperative or low or nil tax jurisdictions are involved.
- A tax advantage or other type of benefit is obtained resulting from an imbalance in the tax laws of different jurisdictions.
- The individual or legal entity has a double fiscal existence.
- Any subject has inherent rights over a trust, private foundations or any type of similar patrimony located abroad.
- The plan falls under the contemplated Tax Planning Information System.
III. Obligated subjects
The obligation to inform about fiscal planning must be fulfilled by taxpayers and fiscal advisors. The latter must comply with the information regime when other related tax advisors undertake a tax planning, regardless of the jurisdiction in which they are located.
- This obligation is autonomous among the obligated subjects and does not release the rest of the fiscal advisors from their obligation to inform.
- When tax advisors are protected by confidentiality rules they must notify the taxpayer of such circumstance.[1]
Iv. Deadline for reporting
- National tax planning: Must be informed by the last day of the month following the closing of the fiscal period in which the fiscal planning was implemented.[2]
- International tax planning: Must be informed within 10 days of the beginning of its implementation.
Any tax planning that has been implemented from January 1, 2019 to October 19, 2020 or that has been implemented prior to January 1, 2019 but that remains in effect at the time of this General Resolution 4838/2020 must be reported before January 29, 2021.
- Required tax planning information
The reporting party must describe the tax planning carried and the method that resulted in an advantage or benefit, providing a description of the relevant facts, the parties involved and the applicable legal provisions, both domestic and foreign.
- Form of presentation
The information about the tax planning should be presented according to the amounts, conditions and requirements established on the microsite Régimen Federal de Planificaciones Fiscales, which may be found via the Tax Authority website and accessed using the fiscal code provided.
VII. General provisions
- Compliance with the information regime shall be required for the processing of applications made by the subjects bound by this information regime for recording with the AFIP
- Failure to comply with these obligations will give rise to the sanctions provided for in Law No. 11,683.
- Compliance with the duty of information shall not give rise to the express acceptance or rejection by AFIP.
- The data related to a tax plan that has been submitted may be subject to the exchange of information among jurisdictions.
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[1] For this purpose, access the website http://afip.gov.ar using the Fiscal Code and enter the service named “Régimen IPF,” option “Secreto Profesional.”
[2] It is considered that fiscal planning begins with the first action taken to start the fiscal planning.