Law 27.799 on Fiscal Innocence

On December 26, 2025, the Argentine Senate approved, with 43 votes in favour and 26 against, the bill presented by the Executive Branch aimed at incorporating reforms to the Tax Procedure and the Tax Criminal Regime. The bill had already passed the Chamber of Deputies, thus becoming law. On Friday, January 2, 2026, the Executive Branch enacted it through Decree 932/2025 published in the Official Gazette, bringing its provisions into force.

The new law -called the “Tax Innocence Law”- amends the Tax Criminal Regime established by Law 27,430, Law 11,683 on Tax Procedures, the Argentine Civil and Commercial Code, and other provisions. It also establishes regulations applicable to individuals and undivided estates resident in the country who opt for the simplified income tax return procedure implemented by ARCA.

“One of the main changes introduced by the law is the updating of the minimum amounts for establishing tax offenses and their annual adjustment based on the variation of the Unidad de Valor Adquisitivo (UVA - Acquisition Value Unit) from 2027 onwards,” highlights Julia Adano, Lead Tax Partner at Grant Thornton Argentina. “It also reduces the statute of limitations for tax offences under certain conditions and advances towards federal harmonization by unifying the time limits at the national and provincial levels, establishing that, for taxes established by the provinces, the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and/or municipalities, the statute of limitations will be governed by the provisions of the Tax Procedure Law.”

Tax Criminal Regime

It modifies the thresholds from which tax evasion is considered a criminal offence:

* Amounts are adjustable from January 1, 2027, considering the annual variation of the Unidad de Valor Adquisitivo (UVA - Acquisition Value Unit), operated between the months of January to December of the calendar year immediately prior to the adjustment.

“The previous system stipulated that criminal proceedings would be extinguished if the evaded obligations were unconditionally and fully accepted and paid within 30 business days of the complaint being filed,” Adano explains. “The new law proposes that the tax administration will not file criminal charges if the corresponding amount is paid before the complaint is filed. If criminal proceedings have already been initiated, they will be extinguished upon acceptance and full payment of the obligations and their interest, plus an additional 50% of the total sum, within 30 business days of notification.”

The extinction of criminal action by conciliation or full reparation of the damage, in accordance with the provisions of the corresponding procedural laws, will not apply to cases of simple evasion, aggravated evasion, improper use of tax benefits, and simple and aggravated evasion related to Social Security resources.

Tax and social security criminal proceedings will not continue when the tax authority's powers have expired. Likewise, two additional circumstances are added under which criminal charges will not be filed: a duly substantiated justification is provided regarding the interpretive and/or technical-accounting method used for the tax assessment, either through a formal submission or simultaneously with the filing of the corresponding tax return; and the original and/or amended tax returns are filed before a notification of the commencement of an audit is issued in relation to the tax and fiscal period to which they refer.

Amendments to Law 11.683

Sanctions

The penalty for failure to submit tax returns within the established deadline increases from $200 to $220,000, and from $400 to $440,000 for companies, associations or entities established in the country belonging to individuals or legal entities domiciled, established or based abroad.

Failure to submit the required informative tax returns will be penalized with a fine of up to $5,000,000, which will increase to $10,000,000 for companies, associations, or entities established in the country belonging to individuals or legal entities domiciled, incorporated, or based abroad. The previous amounts were $5,000 and $10,000, respectively.

When it comes to the omission of a tax returns on the impact on the determination of income tax derived from import and export operations, the penalty will be $1,500,000 and $10,000,000 for companies, associations or entities established in the country belonging to individuals or legal entities domiciled, established or based abroad (previously $1,500 and $9,000).

In cases where the obligation to submit tax returns refers to the details of transactions -except in the case of import and export between independent parties- carried out between those domiciled in the country with those domiciled or established abroad, the fine will be $11,000,000, rising to $22,000,000 when the entity belongs to natural or legal persons domiciled, constituted or established abroad (the previous regulations established them at $10,000 and $20,000, respectively).

Likewise, the amount of fines for violations of the provisions of this law, the respective tax laws, the regulatory decrees, and any other mandatory rule that establishes or requires compliance with formal duties and tax obligations, increases its minimum from $150 to $150,000 and its maximum from $2,500 to $2,500,000. However, violations of the rules related to tax domicile, resistance to auditing, omission of data required for the control of international operations, and failure to keep receipts and supporting documentation for prices agreed upon in international operations will be sanctioned with fines of $35,000,000 (previously $45,000).

The omission of information by multinational entities will be penalized with a fine ranging from $6,000,000 to $15,000,000 (previously $80,000 to $200,000). The amounts of the penalties for late, partial, incomplete, or seriously erroneous or inconsistent submissions, as well as for total or partial non-compliance with requests for additional information, are also increased.

Closures for failure to issue an invoice or receipt, failure to register or record sales or acquisitions of goods or services, failure to register as a taxpayer, failure to keep invoices or receipts that prove the acquisition of goods and/or services for the development of the activity, and for failure to possess or maintain the instruments for measuring and controlling production will be applicable when the value of the goods or services in question exceeds $20,000 (previously $10).

Those who fail to register and declare employees in accordance with the legal requirements will be penalized with a fine of $200,000 to $7,500,000, without prejudice to any other applicable penalties. The previous amount ranged from $3,000 to $100,000.

Prescriptions

The statute of limitations for the actions and powers of the Tax Authority to determine and demand payment of taxes, and to apply and enforce fines and closures is reduced from 5 to 3 years, when the registered taxpayer complies in a timely manner with the presentation of the corresponding tax return and the payment of the tax.

“This reduction is always given as long as the tax return is not challenged due to significant discrepancy, that is, if there is no difference greater than 15% or more than $100,000,000 between what was declared and the tax challenge, or if the challenge made by the tax collection agency is due to the use of apocryphal invoices and other documents,” Adano explains.

Amendments to the Civil and Commercial Code of the Nation and other provisions

Prescription

The general statute of limitations for provincial and/or municipal taxes will be governed by the provisions of Law 11,683.

Regarding the collection of contributions, levies, fines and other obligations arising from social security laws, the statute of limitations will be 5 years, when the taxpayer submits the tax return or discloses their obligation on time and regularises the balance, as long as the collecting entity does not challenge them for detecting a significant discrepancy between the declared information and that available in its systems or provided by third parties.

It reduces from 10 to 3 years the statute of limitations for actions to collect the credits established in Law 23,660 of Health Insurance, when the taxpayer submits the tax return or expresses their obligation on time, and regularizes the balance, as long as the collecting entity does not challenge them for detecting a significant discrepancy between the information declared and that available in its systems or provided by third parties.

With regard to the judicial collection of contributions, surcharges, interest and updates owed to the Fondo Solidario de Redistribución (Solidarity Redistribution Fund) and the fines established by Law 23,661 of the National Health Insurance System, the statute of limitations will be 5 years, when the taxpayer submits the tax return or discloses their obligation on time, and regularizes the balance, provided that the collecting entity does not challenge them for detecting a significant discrepancy between the information declared and that available in its systems or provided by third parties

Simplified Tax Return Regime

Individuals and undivided estates, residing in the country and not qualifying as large taxpayers, may choose to adhere to the simplified method of filing income tax returns if, as of December 31 of the year immediately preceding the year of exercising the option and during the 2 fiscal years prior to that year, they verify total income (taxable, exempt and/or not taxed by income tax) of up to $1,000,000,000 and total assets (in the country and abroad, taxable, exempt and/or not taxed by income tax) of up to $10,000,000,000.

Liberating effect of payment

Once the content of the tax return proposed by the Agencia de Recaudación y Control Aduanero (ARCA - Customs Collection and Control Agency) has been accepted and its payment has been made on time, the taxpayer's obligations regarding Income Tax for the relevant fiscal period will be considered satisfied, unless omissions, undue deductions or apocryphal documents are detected.

Presumption of accuracy

The accuracy of the tax returns submitted will be presumed, unless ARCA challenges it and detects a significant discrepancy between what is declared and the information available in its systems or provided by third parties.

A significant discrepancy is considered to exist if:

• The challenge results in an increase in tax balances in favour of the agency or a reduction in tax losses or balances in favour of taxpayers or responsible parties of not less than 15% compared to what was declared by the taxpayer,
• The difference between what was declared and what results from the challenge exceeds the sum established for the figure of simple evasion established in the Tax Criminal Regime,
• The challenge is due to the use of fraudulent invoices and other apocryphal documents and results in an increase in the tax balance in favour of the Treasury or a reduction in tax losses or balances in favour of the taxpayers or responsible parties, provided that they do not amend the challenged tax return due to this circumstance and do not pay the corresponding tax difference, plus interest.

Extension of the audit

In the event of a significant discrepancy, ARCA may extend the verification and/or audit to non-prescribed periods and determine the taxable matter ex officio, settle the tax differences and apply the penalties provided.

The extension will not be applicable to taxpayers or responsible parties who have opted for the simplified modality and enjoy the liberating effect of payment and the presumption of accuracy or have adhered to the Asset Regularization Regime of Law 27,743 (for the periods that are included in the provisions established for each Regime).

“Adherence to the Simplified Income Tax Regime for the 2025 tax year is until the day before the first general deadline for submission of the tax return for that fiscal period, in June 2026,” explains Adano. “Then, at the deadline, the taxpayer see the tax amount determined by the agency in their ARCA profile and will have two options: accept and pay it, or review it if appropriate.”

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