Argentina
The Senate Moves Toward Debating Tax Innocence II and a New Biofuels Law
The upper chamber is set to meet this Thursday with two bills the government considers central. Changes to the Central Bank's Organic Charter were also left off the agenda.
The Senate is scheduled to move forward this Thursday with a session in which two initiatives relevant to Javier Milei’s government will be discussed: the Tax Innocence II bill and a new regulation for the biofuels sector.
According to C5N and Ámbito, the call comes after the reform of the Central Bank’s Organic Charter was left off the agenda. According to Ámbito, the ruling party sought to ease resistance among its allies by removing that item from the agenda.
Tax Innocence II already has half approval from the Chamber of Deputies since August 26, according to C5N. The proposal expands access to the simplified regime by eliminating income and asset caps, excludes senior public officials, and redefines the criterion of “significant discrepancy” for inspections. It also provides for a 15-business-day period to amend tax returns without losing benefits and a reduction in fines for individuals, SMEs and nonprofit entities.
In parallel, the Senate will seek to debate the reform of the biofuels law, which has already received committee approval. The text gradually raises mandatory blends in gasoline and diesel. The scheme provides for biodiesel to move to an initial blend of 7.5% and then reach 10% in one year, while bioethanol would rise from 12% to 15%.
On this last point, Ámbito added that the bill sets aside 6% for sugarcane ethanol, 6% for corn ethanol and leaves the remaining 3% open to competition. It also noted that no company may control more than 20% of that market. In biodiesel, it said segments were established for integrated and non-integrated companies, with specific quotas for the latter.
C5N said one of the points of tension is the possibility that the ruling party moves ahead with differentiated treatment between bioethanol and biodiesel. According to that outlet, the Argentine Biofuels Chamber called for the debate to be accelerated and warned about the impact of continuing with the current scheme.
Ámbito also reported that the session would include other matters, such as judicial nominations, diplomatic appointments, the transfer of criminal jurisdiction to the Buenos Aires city judiciary and the creation of the Monte León Marine Interjurisdictional Park.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
