The Federal Administration of Public Revenues (AFIP) regulated a series of tax benefits for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)which were announced by the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, last Tuesday, in relation to Value Added Taxes (VAT) and Earnings.
General Resolutions 5,388/2023 and 5,390/2023, published in the Official Gazette, expand the universe of exclusion of VAT perceptions and withholdings, while alleviating the advance payment of Profits for SMEs.
Resolution 5,390 modifies Resolution 2,226 by adding special treatment to “legal entities that have the character of micro-enterprises” that have “characterization 272 in force in the Registry System, do not have tax debts or liquid social security resources and payable for periods not prescribed and are classified in category “A” -Very Low Risk- of the Risk Profile System (Siper)”.
These companies will not be required to have a freely available balance or to provide details of the projections or evidence regarding the situation in which they are included, which are requested when requesting this certificate to accept or deny it.
On the other hand, resolution 5,388 formalizes a relief to advance income tax for these companiesestablishing a single percentage for the years beginning from next August.
Until now, the firms, after paying the balance of the affidavit, had to pay 25% the following month as advance payments and then nine installments of 8.33%; which has now been modified so that the first installment is 10%, followed by another nine of the same percentage, thus reducing the impact of the first payment.
To access this benefit, companies must have the MiPyME Certificate in force on the first day of the beginning month of the fiscal year to which the benefits will be applied, in addition to being registered with the AFIP with characterizations 272, 274, 351 or 352.
This measure, pointed out the Palace of Finance, reaches more than 330 thousand MiPyMEs that employ about 3.5 million people.
For other taxpayers, the percentage of the advance will remain the same, 25%.
Another tax measure anticipated by Massa last Tuesday remains to be regulated, from which SMEs will be empowered to take 30% of the payment of the tax on bank debits and credits as payment on account of 15% of the contributions and contributions that companies must make to their employees, social works, and retirements.
This benefit will be extended until December 31, 2024 and will cover more than 240,000 micro-enterprises that, as a whole, employ close to 1 million people.
“It is a great joy to sit the industry, private and public sectors at the table to present measures that have to do with guaranteeing the improvement of our economic activity, giving relief to our SMEs, and providing loans for our productive sectors and the knowledge economy,” Massa said when announcing the tax benefits, which, as a whole, will cover more than 90% of MSMEs, which generate more than 4,000,000 jobs, and 27% of the self-employed s MSMEs.
In addition to the fiscal level, it was decided to expand the system of non-reimbursable contributions for exporting SMEs.
Specifically, the total amount of the Potencia PyMEX program will be increased by 50% up to $19,000 million, which invests in non-reimbursable contributions of up to $60 million per project to support those exporting companies that incorporate improvements in their processes and products, with the potential to rapidly increase their exports.
On the other hand, the Argentine Development Bank (BICE) announced a new line of financing for the development of companies in the knowledge economy, which will offer credits of up to $50 million for 24 months with a 25 percentage point discount on the nominal interest rate and a guarantee of 100% for micro and small companies, and 70% for medium-sized companies.
The series of measures was received positively among the representatives of the sector.
The head of the General Business Confederation of the Argentine Republic (Cgera), Marcelo Fernández, pointed out that they will allow “continuing to generate genuine work and more local production.”
“The announcements were very well received,” said Fernández in dialogue with this agency, and recognized “the effort” of the Government to “benefit the situation of small and medium-sized companies.”
In turn, the president of the Argentine Chamber of Construction, Gustavo Weiss, assured that the tax benefits for SMEs are “positive” and favor the “vast majority of companies in the country.”
“The measures announced by Minister Massa are relevant because it means generating confidence in the industrial SME sector, which is the one that produces the most,” said the president of Industriales Pymes Argentinos (IPA), Daniel Rosato.
Meanwhile, the treasurer of the Assembly of Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (Apyme), Julio Jardel, was “satisfied” with the announcements, considering that “all the measures are within what has been fought historically, which is the segmentation of the tax system for SMEs, because the financial backs and the source of financing that SMEs have is not the same as that of large companies.”
Source: Ambito
