New Procedure to Extinguish Criminal Tax Actions

Provision 125/2026 of the Argentine Tax Authority (ARCA), published in the Official Gazette  on September 30, 2026, sets out the procedure ARCA must follow at the administrative level to apply articles 16 and 19 of the Tax Criminal Regime, as amended by Law 27799. The Provision includes two annexes: Annex I governs the waiver of criminal complaints and the termination of criminal proceedings (article 16), and Annex II governs the cases in which ARCA will not file a criminal complaint (article 19).

The main features of the Provision are:

1. Annex I: waiver of the criminal complaint and termination of criminal proceedings

• Scope and notice: When an adjustment exceeds the thresholds for criminal liability under the articles the waiver covers and ARCA’s legal department considers that criminal charges are warranted, ARCA will notify the taxpayer of their right to use the benefit through the taxpayer’s electronic tax domicile. This covers adjustments the taxpayer accepted, ex officio assessments or challenges to social security debt that are still under dispute, and acts determining the improper use of tax benefits.
• Requirements: The taxpayer must unconditionally accept and pay in full the obligations and the related interest. The taxpayer must also not have used the benefit before. The benefit is available only once, and its use is tracked through ARCA’s registry system.
• Application: The benefit may be claimed by filing Form F. 3200 through ARCA’s online filing service, which the taxpayer can access with their tax password (clave fiscal), under the procedure “Régimen Penal Tributario - Acogimiento al beneficio del Art. 16.” For legal entities, the corresponding legal representative must sign the form.
• Deadline: if the taxpayer does not file the form within 20 business days, or expressly states that it will not apply for the benefit, ARCA will file a criminal complaint.
• Criminal proceedings: Once criminal proceedings have begun, the law allows them to be terminated within 30 business days after the taxpayer is notified of the criminal charges. To that end, the taxpayer must pay the obligations, the related interest, and an additional amount equal to 50% of the sum of those items as provided in General Resolution 5882/2026.

2. Annex II: cases in which no criminal complaint will be filed

The Tax Criminal Sections of the Legal Divisions of the Regional Directorates or of the Large Taxpayers Control Directorate will prepare a detailed report on whether it is appropriate to not file a criminal complaint. In doing so, they will consider:

• the final audit or verification report and the technical report on the adjusted items;
• the taxpayer’s reasoned disclosure of the interpretive or technical-accounting criterion used, made before or at the same time as the filing of the tax return if it is not aimed at distorting the tax base; and
• the filing of original or amended tax returns before notice of the start of an audit.

In the cases under article 19(a) and (b)—a manifest absence of punishable conduct, including differences in interpretation, and adjustments based exclusively on presumptions—the decision requires an opinion from the Legal Division and the approval of the Regional Director or the Director of Large Taxpayers Control. In the cases under article 19(c) (a prior formal submission to ARCA, or “multinota,” under certain conditions) and article 19(d) (voluntary regularization through the filing of tax returns), it will be sufficient to have a report from the relevant area, endorsed by the tax criminal section, the Legal Division, and the relevant Directorate.

The Provision is effective as of its publication and repeals Provision 192/2018, issued by the former Federal Tax Authority (AFIP), and its amendments. Form F 3200 remains valid.