The Argentine Government will annul tax benefits for football clubs

The Government of Javier Milei decreed this Tuesday the annulment, within a period of six months, of the tax benefits received by clubs dependent on the Argentine Football Association (AFA), a measure that deepens the tension between the Executive and the entity that governs local football.

Through a decree published in the Official Gazette, the Executive announced the completion of the Special Social Security Regime of the AFAwhich provides tax relief on employer contributions and contributions to personnel hired by sports institutions, such as soccer players, coaching staff and doctors, among others.

These tax benefits had been approved by decree last October during the Government of Alberto Fernández (2019-2023), based on a previous regime implemented in 2003 by former president Eduardo Duhalde (2002-2003) to assist football clubs during the economic crisis unleashed in 2001.

The Milei Government considered that that regime “was meager” and argued that between November 2023 and April 2024 it involved a “loss of 7,091 million pesos” (7.2 million dollars).

“Therefore, it is necessary to modify the current conditions of the regime to prevent the defunding of the system from continuing to widen,” mentioned the decree published today, which also announced the creation of a committee “which will have the purpose of discussing the reformulation of the regime and designing an efficient, sufficient and sustainable system for its replacement.”

“The AFA operates with a regime where clubs do not pay their pension obligations like any other taxpayer.but they do it through a system that obtains input resources, passes and television broadcasts, with which they cancel said obligations,” indicated the Minister of Deregulation and Transformation of the State, Federico Sturzenegger on his social networks.

This Tuesday’s decree It takes place in a context of high tension between the Government of Javier Milei and the AFA regarding the Executive’s desire to allow the entry of Sports Joint Stock Companies (SAD) into Argentine football.