The new regulations should assist taxpayers with determining whether they are eligible for any of the new regimes. The new regimes offer many benefits to taxpayers, including the ability to disclose tax liabilities without having to pay interest and penalties.

The Argentine Executive Power issued Regulatory Decree No. 895/16, which regulates the voluntary disclosure regime and tax reform recently enacted by Law 27,260.The Regulatory Decree was published in the Official Gazette on July 28, 2016.

In addition, the Argentine Tax Administration (AFIP) issued General Resolutions No. 3919/16 and No. 3920/16, which were published in the Official Gazette on July 29, 2016. The General Resolutions establish the procedures to apply for the voluntary disclosure regime, the benefits for compliant taxpayers and the new tax debt settlement plan.

For more information about Law 27,260, see Tax Alert 2016-1282 { }.

Regulatory Decree

The Regulatory Decree clarifies a number of the provisions of Law 27,260. Specifically, it clarifies that activities carried out in order to disclose undeclared national and foreign currency and assets registered on behalf of another person will not trigger any tax and will be exempt from the reporting obligations required by the AFIP.

Additionally, the Regulatory Decree allows individuals to disclose previously unreported stock that they hold in foreign companies as of July 22, 2016. Individuals must declare the stock on their own tax returns in the following fiscal years, to the extent the assets remain in their ownership.

The Regulatory Decree also:

— Exempts amounts deposited in special bank accounts authorized by the Argentine Central Bank for disclosure purposes from the tax on financial transactions

— Clarifies how to make a declaration without any taxation when funds are invested in specific instruments (e.g., government bonds, mutual funds) with particular characteristics

— Allows taxpayers to disclose liabilities under administrative or judicial dispute for criminal tax, foreign exchange and customs cases by filing the corresponding documents for the disclosure regime

If the AFIP discovers the failure to declare any other assets when the taxpayer makes the declaration, the benefits arising from the disclosure regime will not be lost to the extent that the value of the undeclared national and foreign currency and assets does not exceed Argentine Pesos (ARS) 305,000 (approximately USD 20,000) or 1% of the total amount of the currency and assets declared, whichever is higher. In this scenario, the taxpayers will have to pay all of the corresponding taxes on the non-declared assets, plus applicable interest and fines.

The Regulatory Decree clarifies that the new tax debt settlement plan does not apply to the payment of taxes on currency and assets that had not been previously disclosed.

General Resolutions

General Resolutions No. 3919/16 and 3920/16 include the procedures for taxpayers to apply for the voluntary disclosure regime, the tax benefits for compliant taxpayers and the new tax debt settlement plan.

In particular, the General Resolutions establish that taxpayers must apply for the voluntary disclosure regime or the new tax debt settlement plan between August 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017.

Taxpayers must apply for the benefits for compliant taxpayers between August 16, 2016 and March 31, 2017. To qualify as a "compliant taxpayer," a taxpayer must have filed its tax returns for fiscal years 2014 and 2015. To apply for any of the regimes, taxpayers must file a tax return through the AFIP's website.

The General Resolutions also include different provisions for each regime, such as residence and eligibility requirements, asset valuation specifications, applicable benefits, and payment plans and terms.

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