ARGENTINA

On January 3, a group of opposition deputies, led by Gerardo Milman (PRO), submitted bills to amend the Customs Code regarding export duties and to lower the Value Added Tax (VAT) from 21% to 18%. The first bill seeks to abolish Articles 755 and 756 of the Customs Code and complementary regulations, which authorize the Executive Branch to establish export duties. The second bill proposes to establish a general and maximum VAT rate of 18%. As it is a reduction of VAT, whose collection is automatically distributed through the mechanism of co-participation between provinces, the positioning of the different governors (both ruling and opposition) on the matter will be decisive for the bill to move forward.

The signatories of the bills are: for the Juntos por el Cambio party, Gerardo Milman, Omar De Marchi, Hernán Lombardi, Waldo Wolff, Laura Rodríguez Machado, Fernando Iglesias, Marilú Quiroz, Pablo Torello, Virginia Cornejo, Héctor Stefani, Aníbal Tortoriello, Sabrina Ajmechet, Matías Tacceti, Alberto Asseff, Gabriel Chumpitaz, Ingrid Jetter, Francisco Sánchez, Adrián Ruarte and Pablo Tonelli. The bills are also endorsed by Javier Milei and Victoria Villarruel from the opposition party La Libertad Avanza.

As can be seen, the bills bring together the consensus of deputies from Juntos por el Cambio and the libertarians, who last December – together with other legislators from dissident Peronism – rejected the 2022 Budget sent by the Executive Branch.