Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Argentine taxes

[from the AFIP (Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos) website]


Foreigner Registration before the AFIP

Tax Identification Number – CUIT

The Tax Identification Number –CUIT- is a numerical code with which AFIP unequivocally identifies taxpayers. The following issues must be considered in order to obtain a CUIT:

The application form for registration will be made at AFIP’s agency (Search available only in Spanish) which corresponds to your fiscal domicile. If taxpayers or other responsible persons are domiciled abroad and do not have any representatives within the country or the domicile of those representatives cannot be established, it will be considered as fiscal domicile the place within the Argentine Republic in which such representatives have their main business or working or their main source of resources or subsidiarily, the place of their last residence.

To obtain the CUIT:

Individuals and undivided estates: F 460/F (Only available in Spanish)

Legal Persons: The application form for registration will be made by sending electronically the tax return created with the Legal Persons Registration Module computer application programme.

The computer application programme requests information related to:

Identificatory Data: company name, legal domicile and other related data.

Data related to the members of the company: authorities, capital share or partners.

Data related to business: tax related data, activities and fiscal domicile.

Once the data requested by the computer application programme is entered, the file for the electronic transfer of data must be created and the form N° 420/J must be printed.

The file created by the computer application programme must be transferred to AFIP by the solicitor:

With Fiscal Code: using the Tax Return and Payment Submission service from the AFIP web site.

With Banking Code: at the web site www.linkpagos.com.ar, www.pagomiscuentas.com, www.interbanking.com.ar (Only available in Spanish) or at the web site of the banks authorized for such purpose.

2 (two) copies of the acknowledgement of receipt, containing the verification and transaction number must be printed.

Taxes Registration

The taxes registration must be carried out at www.afip.gov.ar by entering the Fiscal Code into the Servicio Padrón Único de Contribuyentes (Unique Taxpayers’ Roll Service) – Alta de Impuestos y/o Regímenes (Taxes and/or Regimes Registration).

Tax on Personal Assets

Which is the treatment applicable to the goods situated in the country own by individuals domiciled abroad?

Natural or legal persons domiciled in Argentina who have the condominium, possession, use, enjoyment, disposal, deposit, tenancy, custody, administration or guardianship of goods subjected to tax owned by individuals domiciled abroad will have to pay in the form of a unique and definitive payment for the respective goods on December 31 of every year, 0,75 % of the value of the value of the above mentioned goods.

In the case of real estate located in Argentina which is unexploited or destined to lease, recreation or summer place, directly owned by corporations, companies, permanent establishments, goods destined to the business activity which are domiciled or, where appropriate, situated abroad, the assets will be presumed, without admitting evidence to the contrary, to belong to natural persons or undivided estates, or located in Argentina, where appropriate, in which cases the applicable aliquot will be of 1.5 %.

Income Tax

How should resident persons in Argentina pay taxes?

Resident persons in Argentina, pay taxes on the whole of their profits obtained in the country or abroad. They are able to calculate as a partial payment of the income tax the sums really paid by analogous taxes, on their activities abroad, up to the limit of the increase of the fiscal obligation originated by the incorporation of the income obtained abroad.

How should a foreign beneficiary pay taxes in Argentina?

Non resident persons pay taxes exclusively on their argentine source incomes. In this regard, a foreign beneficiary will be the person who obtain his/her incomes directly or through proxies, agents, representatives or any other mandatory in the country and the person who obtain his/her incomes in Argentina but he/she cannot prove permanent residence in said country. In the cases in which inability to withhold exists, said incomes will be at the expense of the payer entity, without prejudice of its rights of demanding the refund on behalf of the beneficiaries. When net incomes are paid of any category to societies, companies or any other foreign beneficiary the person who pays said incomes should withhold and pay before the Federal Administration of Public Revenues ( AFIP), in the form of a unique and definitive payment, 35 % of such incomes. For such purpose, dispositions set forth in the General Resolution 739/99 shall be fulfilled. (Only available in Spanish)

What is understood by “argentine source income”?

In principle, argentine source incomes are those that arise from goods situated, placed or used for an economic purpose in Argentina, from performance in Argentina, of any act or activity capable of producing an income or from events occurring within Argentine territory, without bearing in mind either nationality, domicile or residence of the owner or of the parties that intervene in the operations, or the place of celebration of the contracts.

In the case of foreign beneficiaries, in what cases are the middlemen, administrators or mandataries obliged to withhold income tax?

Middlemen, administrators or mandataries will have to withhold the income tax for the payments abroad that they made on behalf of the persons that order said payments. Likewise, they will have to apply and pay the withholdings for the payments made for their own transactions. They are exempt from withholding when the payers of the revenue to the foreign beneficiaries have carried out the withholding or they are not paying concepts that are subject to withholding.

When the total or partial payment of the income tax to is at the expense of the person that pays the revenue, he/she shall credit sufficient funds for paying the respective tax, being the intermediary, administrative or mandatory entity obliged not to making the draft effective until it happens.

When a natural person is considered as a resident person in Argentina

Tax legislation considers residents in Argentina the following people:

Argentine natural persons, native or naturalized, except for those who lost the resident status.

Foreign individuals who obtained their permanent resident status in the country or who, without having done so, have legally been in the country for a twelve month period by means of temporary authorizations. In this regard, temporary absences that are less than 90 days, working or non-working days, within every period of 12 months, shall not disrupt the continuity of such permanence in the country. Likewise, individuals who failed to obtain the Argentine permanent resident status and whose permanence in said country is due to reasons that do not imply an intention of habitual permanence, shall be able to account for the underlying reasons. The above mentioned communication shall be submitted before the A.F.I.P. after 30 days of the fulfillment of the term of 12 months of stay in the country.

How to pay my taxes

In order to pay your tax obligations, you can find the information about the places authorized to such effect and the diverse methods of payment. Accede to this information selecting the Tax or Regime.

Income Tax and Tax on Personal Assets

Large Taxpayers: Pay through Banking Transfer generation of VEP – electronic ticket ( Only available in Spanish)

Rest of Taxpayers: They can pay in cash, by cashier’s check, Financial Check and cheque Cancelatorio*, Banking Transfer, Generation of VEP - Electronic Ticket- (Only available only in Spanish) cash dispenser, automatic bank debit or credit card.* Kind of check that must be issued when the amount of money to be paid is greater than $ 10.000.- ( pesos ten thousand)