The National Constitution establishes in art. 75, including 18), the call “progress clause” through which he entrusts to Congress “To provide that which is conducive to the prosperity of the country (…) by promoting the introduction and creation of new industries (…) by laws protecting these purposes and temporary grants of privileges and stimulus awards.”
It is into this framework that the Scheme for promoting the knowledge economywhich established law 27.506, modified by law 27.570, reflecting the political decision of the State – very correct after all – to promote this sector which includes various activities, characterized by the intensive use of technology and qualified human capital, including: development of software, biotechnology, audiovisual developments, electronics and communication services, geology, nanoscience, satellites, artificial intelligence, robotics, among others.
Basically, this scheme requires companies to opt-in important tax benefitsconditioned, obviously, on the achievement of certain objectives – investments, exports, job creation, incorporation of new developments – of high public interest.
Among the many tax benefits that the regime grants, the tax credit bonus that is generated by the payment of employer contributions stands out, which can be used to pay other taxes or even be transferred only once and also the reduction of tax rate. profits, all in a proportion that will depend on the size of the company and other conditions. And the most important thing is that they enjoy these benefits fiscal stabilitywhich means they cannot be removed during the validity period of the scheme, which is 10 years.
These benefits are not capricious, do not imply undue privilege, nor are they everlasting or excessive, but are rather an appropriate tool that the nation state has designed to generate skilled, well-paid jobs, foreign exchange earnings from exports, productivity of the entire economy and the real inclusion of Argentina in a highly competitive world and industry, all this has been verified in reality; thus fulfilling the constitutional mandate.
Context
Days ago, the information contained in the latest financial statements of Mercado Libre, presented to the US regulatory authorities, was released. There it is explained that in the first nine months of 2023, the company received tax benefits of $35 million and $4 million in “social security” (employer contributions). That is a total of 84 million dollars.
These benefits are framed in the so-called Knowledge Law, which stimulates investment in certain sectors of the economy, such as software and technology. Mercado Libre applied to receive these benefits and the relevant authorities granted them to him at the time.
Once the information was known, critics appeared who underlined that at a time when a strong adjustment in spending is expected, it was difficult to understand that a company like Mercado Libre – which today has a market value of 87 billion dollars and which in its latest balance sheet recorded profits of over 1 billion dollars, received the benefits mentioned above.
Galperín defended his position, stressing that the case was clear proof that taxes need to be lowered for all businesses.
Source: Clarin
