Termination of Tax Criminal Proceedings Now Regulated

The Argentine Tax Authority (ARCA) issued General Resolution 5882/2026 on July 27, 2026, establishing the procedure for paying and proving the additional amount required to obtain the termination of criminal proceedings under article 16 of the Tax Criminal Regime. The Resolution follows the amendment introduced by Law 27799 (Tax Innocence Law), which had established a new mechanism for terminating criminal proceedings for certain tax offenses.

Following the second paragraph of article 16 of the Tax Criminal Regime, taxpayers seeking to benefit from this mechanism must unconditionally accept and fully pay the evaded, improperly obtained or unduly collected tax obligations and the corresponding interest, as well as an additional equal to 50% of those amounts.

General Resolution 5882/2026 now establishes the procedure for making this additional payment. In its recitals, it characterizes the additional amount as "(…) a statutory condition for the admissibility of the extinguishment of the criminal action, directly connected to the obligations and interest referred to above, insofar as it is calculated on the basis thereof, and its payment is required jointly therewith and on a complementary basis." The legal nature ascribed to the additional amount may have consequences when analyzing the conditions for its deductibility, for its effect on other criminal penalties, and in other respects.

In particular, the additional amount must be paid through an Electronic Payment Form (VEP), using tax return form 2712 “Additional 50% Payment – Article 16 of Law 27430.” The taxpayer must generate a VEP for each tax obligation, identified by tax and period. When generating the VEP, taxpayers must report the principal and interest already paid in connection with the tax obligation subject to criminal proceedings. The system will automatically calculate the additional 50% payment.

The Resolution also provides for an editable field where the amount differs from the calculation made in the judicial proceedings. The payment receipt and the VEP will be sufficient evidence that the additional amount has been paid. To establish that the taxpayer has complied with the statutory requirements to terminate the criminal proceedings, these documents must be filed before the relevant court, together with supporting documentation proving payment of the underlying tax obligation and interest.

The Resolution also addresses two specific situations: if the request to terminate the criminal proceedings is denied, the additional amount paid may only be recovered through the refund procedure established under article 81 of Law 11683. In addition, taxpayers who paid the additional amount before the resolution becomes effective using different payment codes must request to have the payment reallocated through ARCA’s Digital Filings service.

General Resolution 5882/2026 became enforceable the day it was published in the Official Gazette.