The Federal Public Revenue Administration (AFIP) published in the Official Gazette an extension of the deadline for workers to inform their employers of
annual Income Tax deductions
.
Now there will be time until April 30.
This was reflected in
General Resolution 5494/2024,
published this Tuesday in the Official Gazette.
It extended the deadline to complete form 572 "SIRADIG Worker" until Tuesday, April 30, 2024, inclusive.
In turn, the agency determined that employers will have time
until May 31
to make the settlement and that the refund of the tax withheld in excess will be made until June 10, 2024.
The objective of this extension is
to provide legal certainty
regarding the annual settlement of last year's Income Tax.
Thus, the provisional liquidation of 2024 was modified by various decrees of the Executive Branch that had no effect on the pertinent legal provisions.
As a consequence of this, Javier Milei's administration presented an initiative in Congress to validate, with the hierarchy of law,
the provisional provisions
dictated by the Executive Branch during 2023.
The 5 keys to the measure, in the mouths of taxpayers
Below, tax expert Sebastián Domínguez, CEO of SDC Asesores Tributarios explains why the deadline was extended:
Why is the deadline extended?
The Deadline is extended because the Income tax scales that were applied by employers for the 2023 Fiscal Period are not those that arise from the income tax law and, in the annual settlement, the latter must be applied.
It happens that the previous National Executive Branch instructed the AFIP by Decrees to increase the tax scales for the purposes of the withholding regime for employees in a dependency relationship on two occasions: in August 2023 through Decree 415/2023 and in September 2023, through Decree 473/2023.
And those instructions have not been approved by a Law of the National Congress.
What happens if the instructions given by Decree are not incorporated into a Law?
The National Executive Branch
cannot modify taxes by Decree.
Consequently, if the modifications are not approved by a new Law, the income tax scales that are contemplated in the Income Tax Law govern.
This may generate debts for employees with compensation subject to income tax for the 2023 tax period.
Has something similar happened in the past?
How was it resolved?
Something similar happened in one of Cristina Kirchner's governments in the sense that a debt was generated for applying what was established
by a Decree not confirmed by Law.
The solution found was that the AFIP application determines the debt but that its entry is not necessary pending a subsequent legislative modification that would contemplate the treatment of the Decree.
Finally the legislative reform was carried out and the debt ceased to exist.
Is there any bill to approve these modifications?
General Resolution 5494 mentions that project 0026-PE-2023 sent by the National Executive Branch in January 2024 is in process to resolve this issue.
The issue is that the Government announced that it was going to withdraw that project and
has already circulated a new draft
of the tax relief project to be sanctioned after the approval of the Bases Law project with the objective of signing the May Pact.
This new draft contemplates
the approval of the increase in scales
in line with the Decrees in conjunction with other reforms.
The point is that, in the current political context, it is uncertain whether this project can be approved.
And this problem, generated by politics, puts many employees in a situation of uncertainty.
Consequently, in our opinion, the National Executive Branch and/or any representative, regardless of the political party to which they belong, should send a
bill that exclusively addresses this issue
and approves increases in the income tax scales in line with the Decrees.
Furthermore, the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Senators should quickly convert it into Law, providing a solution to the problem.
What happens to employees who can request a refund of income tax payments for trips abroad, card consumption, dollar savings, etc.?
Employees who must request a refund of income tax receipts for trips abroad, card consumption, dollar savings, etc.
to their employers,
they are harmed.
On the one hand, because part of these perceptions can be absorbed by the tax generated by applying the scales of the law instead of those applied by the Decrees.
And on the other hand, because if the return corresponds, it will be made later.
Originally, employers had
until April 30, 2024
to make the annual settlement and had to make the refund in the first subsequent payment.
They now have
until May 31, 2024
to make the annual settlement and must make the return in the first subsequent payment.
That is, the corresponding returns will be delayed for almost a month without any interest in favor of the employees.