This morning, President Alberto Fernández received representatives of the Argentine Chamber of Commerce and Services (CAC) at the Olivos Residence with the aim of analyzing the situation of the sector during the social, preventive and mandatory isolation ordered by the national government to mitigate the circulation of the new coronavirus Covid-19.
The meeting was attended by the president of the CAC, Jorge Luis Di Fiori; the vice presidents Eduardo Eurnekian and Alberto Grimoldi and the treasurer, Víctor Dosoretz.
The president was accompanied by the Chief of Staff, Santiago Cafiero; the Secretary General of the Presidency, Julio Vitobello; and the presidential advisor Juan Manuel Olmos.
The representatives of the CAC presented the Head of State with proposals around two axes. The first refers to the possibility of establishing selective social isolation, which allows a gradual return to activityTo this end, the following was proposed.
- Authorization of face-to-face work only for workers, outside of vulnerable groups, who reside within, for example, a radius of no more than 5 km from the workplace for the first stage, then 20 km for the second, and so on.
- Establishment of special timetables to avoid the generation of “rush hours” in means of transport. In the first stage, 6-hour days and then gradually extending them.
- Relaxation of restrictions affecting e-commerce logistics, which is key at this time as an alternative to the traditional channel. It is essential to allow merchants to go to their premises or warehouses, with a limited number of employees and without customer service, so that they can sell and dispatch orders directly through an authorized parcel, mail or freight service.
At the same time, the CAC requested a extensive simplification of bureaucratic procedures and an early opening, at least partial, of bank branches, which is essential for carrying out certain operations.
The second of the axes, meanwhile, consisted of financial and tax support measures for companiesIn this regard, it was proposed:
- Granting of an instant and direct loan, at zero interest, credited to workers' salary accounts. The loan amount should be equivalent to the difference between the worker's salary and the payment made by ANSES (Compensatory Salary Allowance) or the Ministry of Labor (Repro Assistance for the Health Emergency), according to DNU 332/2020, creating the Emergency Assistance Program for Work and Production.
- Postponement of payments of personal contributions and contributions and ART corresponding to March and April salaries. Opening of a payment facility plan in six installments for cancellation with a due date after 60 days from the end of the isolation period.
- 100% exemption from employer contributions on March and April salaries, extendable to the following months depending on the evolution of the pandemic and its consequences.
- Postponement of tax due dates that were in effect in April at all three levels of government (VAT, tax on bank debits and credits, advances on profits, gross income and municipal taxes).
- Suspension for two months of all advance collection regimes of the three levels of government (withholdings and collections).
Aduana News foi o primeiro jornal aduaneiro da Argentina a lançar sua versão digital. Com mais de 20 anos de trajetória, suas publicações e iniciativas têm como objetivo oferecer o conhecimento mais relevante sobre temas aduaneiros, contribuindo para a promoção do comércio seguro e da facilitação do comércio na região.
