On March 6, the Autonomous Revenue Authority of Buenos Aires (AGIP) announced Resolution No. 93/AGIP/26, which stipulates the method for calculating the tax base for gross income tax (IIBB) on virtual currency buying and selling operations.
The rule was published in the City Gazette on March 12 and applies to the following IIBB taxpayers: Perform regular cryptocurrency buying and selling operations In the city of Buenos Aires, as a person or as a company that develops its activities economically.
This resolution is part of the framework of Article 231 of the Municipal Tax Law, which provides that the tax base for certain activities shall be calculated as follows: Difference between purchase price and sales priceRather than being applied to the total bill,
This Article 231 was amended by Law No. 6,926 to include the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies within the special tax base. However, this standard did not specify in detail how purchase and sale prices should be determined in this type of business.
The new AGIP resolution will therefore regulate this point and will set the criteria for calculating this difference and therefore the criteria on which the tax on the purchase and sale of crypto assets will be applied.
Persons who are not registered with IIBB or who do business from time to time should consult their accountant to determine whether they are covered, as this definition relies on Article 231 of the Buenos Aires Tax Code and other provisions not addressed in this resolution.
What does this solution establish and what impact does it have on users?
This resolution establishes that the gross income tax base for businesses using virtual currencies is calculated as follows: Difference between purchase price and sales price of each asset.
In other words, the tax is not applied to the total amount received in the sale; For the profits earned from operations.
Commissions paid to intermediaries are also part of the calculation. It is added to the acquisition cost when purchased and deducted from the amount received when sold, reducing the final profit to which taxes are applied.
Actually, this is Require taxpayers to keep detailed records Details of each transaction, including purchase and sale prices, fees paid, and transaction dates.
The resolution also introduces standards for swap operations when users exchange one cryptocurrency for another without fiat currency. In that case, the value of each asset is Must be calculated according to the estimate on the day of surgery. To determine this price, the rules indicate that prices from exchanges or intermediaries registered in the Virtual Asset Service Provider Registry (PSAV) of the National Securities Commission (CNV) must be used.
However, the resolution does not specify which price sources should be used when operations are carried out on platforms that are not registered with that institution, leaving an area of uncertainty in the application of the regulation.
Additionally, the new AGIP rules do not specify a tax rate (a percentage applied to the tax base to determine the amount of tax payable). This is because this variable depends on the economic activity of the taxpayer according to the Buenos Aires tax law.
Specific example
The team behind the X account, known as Taxes&Equity, specializes in tax, economic, and political analysis, and published a simplified example on X to illustrate the practical impact of the resolution.
A purchase operation of 1 BTC for USD 80,000 plus a fee of USD 200 (total cost of USD 80,200) followed by a sale of USD 95,000 minus a fee of USD 190 (net receipt of USD 94,810); The resulting tax basis is USD 14,610..
apply Referral rate 6%the tax payable will be approximately USD 876.60 when converted to Pesos at the corresponding exchange rate.