In search of measures to stimulate the flow of dollars, the Government recently decreed the expansion of payment controls for imports of services. According to the Resolution 5342/2023 of the AFIP, the purpose is to “strengthen preventive control actions” and the “follow-up and monitoring of foreign trade operations.” The signature of the Secretary of Commerce, Matias Tombolinialso appears in the document.
According to this regulation, applicants for payment of services abroadmust complete a form with various requirements in it Import System of the Argentine Republic and Payment of Services Abroad (SIRASE).
The measure highlights the increasingly restrictive measures on imports to limit access to Central Bank dollars, since companies face greater delays and administrative inconveniences in the processing, especially since the establishment of the SIRA system.
The discontent of the productive sectors grows due to the obstacles to imports
It should be noted that, according to a report by the Argentine Industrial Unionhe 84,4% of companies indicate a extension in deadlines waiting for approval import of raw materials.
As a result of this regulation, the AFIP will review “the tax situation of the taxpayer based on the information available in their records“and, “in the event of detecting breaches of their obligations or formal irregularities, the procedure initiated will be without effect“.
Then, the body will examine the economic-financial capacity of the subject through the Financial Economic Capacity System (CEF system). Subsequently, the procedure will be forwarded to the Commerce secretary who will analyze the presentations made in the monitoring systems and corresponding traceability.
Business discontent
The measure was not well received by some business sectors who had already denounced obstacles and problems with the import system. However, one of the changes implies that now the AFIP and the Secretariat of Commerce andThey are obliged to respond within a maximum period of 60 calendar days from the upload of information.
However, this period may be extended up to 120 days depending on the “complexity” of the case.
“SIRA and SIRASE generated an inconvenience by changing the system. However, we have a weekly table with Productive Development in which cases of SMEs that are in a bottleneck situation are dealt with”, he began by explaining Alfredo Gonzalez, president of the Confederation of Medium Enterprises (CAME) in dialogue with PROFILE.
“There are solutions, but not for all small and medium-sized companiess. That is why from CAME we are going to help all SMEs to present their annual import forecast for the government to have that information”, added the businessman.
“Of 22,000 companies that requested import through the SIRA system only 8,000 presented this work on the predictability of what they are going to import throughout the year. This has been working from the entity with the Government“Gonzalez said.
SMEs and the problems of not being able to import: there is a lack from anilines to sunscreens
“These changes that the Government implemented continue to generate obstacles, but it is also true that they have shortened the times not only for authorization but of import advance payments”. “The dialogue with the Government is continuous. The window is constantly open,” he clarified.
The context of SMEs
The current panorama of SMEs is aggravated by the inflationary situation, according to González. “Inflation rquite restricts people’s purchasing power and that complicates domestic consumption quite a bit, since more than 75% of everything that is produced in the SME sector it is for domestic consumption.”
“It is already feeling that in these two months sales have fallen 0.6% in different items, that without having the measurement of March. The great Argentine problem is inflation,” lamented the president of CAME.
LR
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