On 2 September 2020, Government Officially published Law 21.256 regarding new COVID-19 tax incentive packages for those who are badly affected by coronavirus pandemic. Previously, on 18 August 2020, the Senate approved this Bill. The measures include:
- The new Law allows immediate tax amortization of 100% of intangibles acquired from 1 June 2020 to 31 December 2022, for corporate income tax purposes.
- Local registration of the intangibles may be required to restrict the amortization to industrial and intellectual property rights and a variety of plant rights.
- The Law allows immediate full depreciation of capital goods as well as for intangible assets acquired for the interest, development, or maintenance of a company. The deadline for claiming the depreciation incentive is extended until 31 December 2022.
- Under the Law, the corporate income tax rate is temporarily reduced from 25% to 10% for SMEs, for the fiscal years 2020, 2021 and 2022. During the same period, the rate of corporate tax provisional monthly payments is reduced by half.
- A full VAT refund on the balance of wholesale VAT credits accumulated according to VAT returns submitted in July, August and September 2020, given that the taxpayer’s income has decreased by at least 30% compared to the same period in 2019.
- The VAT deferral period to which certain VAT payers can access is temporarily extended from 2 months to 3 months. This measure will apply from October 2020 to 31 December 2021.
- The mandatory issuance of electronic bills and the electronic ledger of purchase and sales is deferred to 1 January 2021.
