Sources from the agency informed Noticias Argentinas that the under-invoicing occurred in toothpastes, mouthwashes, soaps, liquid soaps and brushes of teeth shipped directly from Argentina to Uruguay and Paraguay.
However, according to the complaint, the exports in question would have been triangulated operations: the firm Colgate Palmolive United States was consigned as an intermediary buyer in all cases.
Official spokesmen indicated that “the link between companies involved in triangulation makes it feasible to manipulate declared prices to evade the tax authorities”.
Regarding the investigation, the Director General of Customs, William Michel, He affirmed that “foreign trade dollars are of strategic importance for Argentina”.
“We will not allow irregular maneuvers to be used to avoid the liquidation of foreign currency in our country,” he said.
Information crossing revealed inconsistencies
In effect, the sources indicated that “by means of crossing information with the INDIRA system of the General Directorate of Customs Differences of around 100% were found, on average, between the FOB values documented in imports both in Paraguay and Uruguay with respect to those declared before Argentine Customs”.
“While those amounted to US$3,578,003.12, in our country exports were registered at only US$1,800,472.27. The difference between the two figures, US$1,777,530.85, reveals the amount of foreign currency that , improperly, did not enter Argentina”they warned in Customs.
In the agency they stressed that “given that the merchandise was physically transported from our country to its final destination, Customs does not notice elements that indicate a tangible added value by the third operator.”
Hence, it was concluded that “everything points to the fact that the difference between the declared amounts is simply reduced to a re-invoicing.”
It was reported that “the General Directorate of Customs requested explanations from the exporter, but these were not satisfactory.”
In that framework, The fine that would apply to the firm under the terms of article 954 of the Customs Code could amount to 8,887,654 dollars. As this is a preliminary result, Customs expanded the scope of the investigation.
Until now, the data obtained through information exchanges were provided by Uruguay and Paraguay, but they are not necessarily the most representative of the volume of Mercosur operations.
Thus, the body led by Guillermo Michel is analyzing the rest of the successive sales with related companies and, in addition, will study exports made during 2021 and 2022.
Source: Ambito
