Amid the government’s efforts to include new items in price deals and keep inflation down to around 6.6% a month, the auto sector has started posting hikes of up to 20% in bits and pieces in recent days. The increases achieved car batteriesimmediately after the application of the perceptions on most of the imports.
The best known case is that of the country’s main battery manufacturer, the Brazilian company Blue raspberry. According to the lists you have accessed clarionthat product for a honda FIT (M18 12X40) jumped 20%, from $34,700 in late March to $41,640 in early April; for Mercedes Benz and Iveco trucks (ME100 12X110), from $65,590 to $72,150 (+10%); and for Lawn Tractors and Lawn Mowers (ME23), $27,420 to $32,900 (+20%).
The change coincided with the halfway publication of general resolution 5339/2023 which suspended until 31 December 2023 the collection scheme which exempted importers from paying VAT of 20% and 6% of profits. AFIP has taken the move to boost funding amid sharply declining revenues and tussles with the IMF, but business owners warn of the impact on finance costs and imported goods.
“Everyone who matters is affected, especially those who matter intermediate entrances produce locally and export, it will basically impact the price, the problem is who can transfer it in a context of high inflation and with price deals where you can lose access to the government-run single foreign exchange market,” said former undersecretary for industry and head of ABECEB consultancy Dante Sica.
The autoparties also hit the yell in the sky for the iIncreases of between 4 and 6% that have begun to be noticed in key raw materials, such as aluminum and plastics. “The AFIP provision does not only concern prices, funds are needed that companies do not have to carry out shipments for perceptions that cannot be discounted for 9 months and are loaned to the state free of charge,” said an auto parts entrepreneur.
It happens that the receipts will be calculated as an advance of the respective taxes in the notarial deeds and, in the case of VAT, only from the ninth month following the customs clearance. Therefore, the payment made in March this year will only be considered in December under the next government. Something that the UIA dubbed as “a 0-interest loan for 9 months” from importers to the exchequer.
“In short, at least until January, the companies covered by the new AFIP standard will not be able to present their certificates or recover the amount paid by way of VAT Perceptions and Profits in nine months with inflation of at least 80%. have a significant financial impact on companies that will no doubt be at least partially passed on to prices,” Abeceb said in a report.
The UIA issued a tough statement in which it argued that the rule presupposes an increase in the “tax burden”, as it makes the supply of foreign goods and equipment more expensive, increasing the funding needed to deal with these operations. ADIMRA metallurgical chamber. meanwhile, it sent a note to AFIP authorities asking them to review the measure amid input import difficulties.
Since last year, the government has restricted imports and access to dollars to contain the loss of reserves. And this year, another front has opened up with the sharp drop in collections, which has led to adding receipts to get $1 trillion in revenues (half a month of collections or 1% of GDP that will not have the next management) and launching a another soy dollar. The latter would add $170 billion, even to the detriment of accounts, in 2024.
The AFIP resolution gave a nod to the IMF in its latest revision, in which it argued it would serve to “limit imports and raise tax revenues” while supporting a future differential exchange rate for imported services. In this way, the Government is trying to reach the fiscal deficit target of the program (1.9% of GDP), one of the points that the Fund is reluctant to change, despite the extraordinary drought and the claims of Sergio Massa.
Source: Clarin
