Argentine tax laws stipulate that 10 pct of outward freight is presumed a profit from Argentina and taxed 33pct, this results in a 3.5pct tax on the gross freight. Vessel’s agents and/or argentine freight payers are responsible for collecting and depositing this tax at the local tax office.
In order to avoid double taxation there are in force reciprocal agreements avoiding duplicate payment of this tax between Argentina and: Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, U.S.A., and Uruguay.
The agreement covers ‘the final freight beneficiary’, residing in the above listed countries, irrespective of the vessels flag wherefore Brazilian or Dutch company can operate with Liberian or any other convenieance flag and still qualify for exemption.
Every foreign owner or operator claiming exemption is required to provide certified documentation from its country of residence, wherefore a tax affidavit must be produced and sent to us for filing with argentine tax authority (and also for presenting to the freight paying party to avoid that they deduct the 3.5 pct). If the required documentation is not obtained the tax must be paid.
In short, the freight beneficiary has to prove that he is a tax payer in his country of residence, for this he has to:
1) -Fill in and sign the form (attached) and certify your signature by notary public.
2) -Get it signed and stamped by the local tax authority and certify the signature by notary public(in case a notary public is unavailable to certify the tax authorities signature , an alternative is the following:
a) If the tax authority signature is registered in the argentine consulate then the argentine consulate will certify it.
b) If a) is not applicable, then you have to find somebody whose signature is registered in the argentine consulate (i.e. Foreign affairs ministry or local municipal authority) and that can certify that the signing tax authorities signature is valid)
c) Get it certified by a notary public.
Get the notary’s signature certified by the argentine consul (*)
(*) If the affidavit is produced in one of the following countries the certification by the Argentine Consulate can be avoided by having the notary public signature certification made out in accordance with the Apostilla procedure (the Hague Convention): Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, U.S.A., and Uruguay.
