Taxpayers No Longer Parties Before Federal Tax Commission

Resolution 287/2026 of the Federal Tax Commission (CFI), published in the Official Gazette on August 25, 2026, approved a new Procedural Ordinance, which entered into force on August 18, 2026, and entirely replaced the previous regime established by Plenary Resolution 91/20054 (as amended by Resolution 144/2011).

The Ordinance governs, among other matters, the procedure through which the CFI assesses the compatibility of federal, provincial, and municipal taxes with the federal tax distribution regime, as well as proceedings arising from the issuance of general interpretative rules pursuant to article 11(d) and (e) of Law 23548. Article 11(d) provides that the CFI will intervene when taxpayers or recognized taxpayers’ associations request so. In turn, article 14 provides that taxpayers affected by taxes declared incompatible with the tax distribution regime may seek reimbursement of amounts paid before the relevant tax authorities, either through judicial or administrative proceedings, without the need to first resort to the CFI.

The main amendment the reform introduces involves the procedural standing of taxpayers. Under the former regime, affected taxpayers could participate as parties. Under the new Ordinance, they may only act as complainants and no longer acquire party status. Conversely, municipalities, local districts, and certain public entities may now become parties, when the challenged tax originates from them.

The amendment also eliminated the supplementary application of the Civil and Commercial Procedure Code and the Federal Administrative Procedure Law, preserving only a reference to the CFI Regulations.

This change has important procedural consequences. Most notably, the review appeal against Executive Committee decisions is reserved for parties. As taxpayers and taxpayers' associations are now limited to the role of complainants, they appear to lack standing to file such appeals.

The new Ordinance establishes a specific procedure for complaints that taxpayers and taxpayers’ associations submit. Once the complaint has been answered, or the period for doing so has expired, the case file will be forwarded to the Legal Advisory Department and, if appropriate, to the Economic and Financial Advisory Department, so they issue their legal opinions and reports. The Executive Committee has 60 days upon receipt to issue a decision. This period may be extended only once, on an exceptional basis, and for duly grounded reasons.

If the Executive Committee dismisses the complaint, the decision will be automatically submitted to the Plenary of Representatives within 60 days for confirmation or reversal. The resolution ultimately adopted will conclude the proceedings. This ex officio review mechanism may prevent complainants from articulating their grounds of appeal and, therefore, from submitting a specific and grounded challenge to the decision the Agency renders.

Resolution 287/2026 does not include transitional provisions for cases that were pending when the new regime entered into force.

Over the years, the CFI has played a prominent role in reviewing local tax regimes and their potential conflict with the federal tax distribution regime. That role is based on the effects that the distribution agreement law assigns to its decisions and on the enforcement mechanisms it provides: the obligation of each participating jurisdiction to repeal conflicting provincial taxes and to promote the repeal of conflicting municipal taxes, suspending their application within ten calendar days after notice of the decision (article 9(e)); the obligation to suspend the distribution of federal and provincial tax revenues to municipalities that fail to comply with the rules of the regime or with CFI decisions (article 9(f)); and the authority of the CFI itself to order the Banco Nacion to refrain from transferring to the non-compliant jurisdiction the amounts to which it would otherwise be entitled from the proceeds of the tax analogous to the challenged tax (article 13).

The impact of these changes on the role the CFI traditionally plays in resolving disputes regarding the federal tax distribution regime must be assessed considering the proceedings carried out under the new Ordinance.