Luis Caputo welcomed the approval of the Bases law and fiscal package in the House of Representatives

The Minister of Economy Luis Caputo He celebrated the approval of the Bases law and the fiscal package, which includes the restitution of the income tax and personal property tax. “Congratulations to our leaders who worked so hard these past 6 months to reach an agreement,” he wrote on his X account and in turn, he extended his thanks to the politicians “who care about the people.”

The Chamber of Deputies turned the project promoted by the Government into law after more than six months of debate in Congress. The ruling party achieved the reinstatement of the Income Tax, as well as the changes in Personal Property. A positive sign for the market. However, X users immediately urged the head of the Treasury to lower the PAIS tax, as he had promised. Now he will have to define it.

PAIS tax: Caputo’s promise

Now Caputo faces his promise to reduce said tax after the final sanction of the Bases Law and the fiscal package. Well, the market does not forget and awaits the announcement to gauge the impact on the fiscal balance that the Government intends.

It should be remembered that Caputo exerted pressure with the announcement that he would reduce the rate of this tax from 17.5 to 7.5% when both norms were firm. Now they are law.

In making his promise, Caputo was strategic in not providing too many details, leaving open multiple possibilities as to how the measure would be implemented. The País tax applies in a wide variety of situations: purchase of foreign currency for savings, payment for tourist services, subscription of bonds or securities issued by the BCRA, and dividend payments, among others.

Therefore, it is crucial to determine on which transactions the tax rate will be reduced. It is important to remember that It was Caputo who decided to increase this tax from 7.5% to 17.5% when he launched his first economic measures in December, so now we would only return to the scenario in effect six months ago.

Analysts’ doubts revolve around the impact on collection, since this tax has become one of the pillars of tax revenue.

One of the direct effects would be the reduction in the cost of imported inputs, which would have two consequences: benefits for some companies by reducing their production costs and damages for those that would have to compete with imported products at a lower price.

Analysts are waiting to see how the tax structure will be and how Caputo plans to obtain the necessary funds to compensate for the promised reduction. In the first five months of the year, this tax contributed $2.8 billion to the treasury, out of a total of $44.7 billion, which represents 6%. This volume, given the economic situation and the slow recovery, does not seem easy to balance.