On June 11, 2026, Panel “D” of the National Tax Court (the “Court”) issued its ruling in the case “Farhat Irma Leonor s/recurso de apelación – Aporte Solidario y Extraordinario” revoking an ex officio tax assessment issued by the Revenue and Customs Control Agency (Agencia de Recaudación y Control Aduanero, “ARCA”) in connection with the Solidarity and Extraordinary Contribution established by Law No. 27,605 (the “Solidarity Contribution”).
The Court held that the funds transferred by the taxpayer to an irrevocable trust prior to the entry into force of Law No. 27,605 should not be included in the taxable base of the Solidarity Contribution, given that a real and definitive divestiture of those assets had taken place.
Background
ARCA partially assessed the taxpayer’s liability under the Solidarity Contribution for fiscal year 2020 in the amount of approximately ARS 51 million, plus compensatory interest, and additionally imposed a penalty equivalent to 100% of the allegedly unpaid tax.
The adjustment arose primarily from the inclusion in the taxable base of approximately ARS 948 million corresponding to foreign bank accounts that had been contributed to an irrevocable trust established on March 30, 2020.
The taxpayer challenged the assessment on the grounds that she was neither a beneficiary nor a trustee of the trust and that, as a result of the transfer, she had lost possession, management, and disposal rights over the contributed assets.
ARCA, for its part, argued that Article 3 of Law No. 27,605 expressly provides that assets contributed to trusts, fiduciary arrangements, private interest foundations, and other analogous structures must be included in the determination of the Solidarity Contribution. It also invoked Article 2 of Regulatory Decree No. 42/2021, under which the taxpayers subject to the levy must declare as their own the assets contributed to such structures based on their participation in them.
The Court’s Reasoning
To resolve the dispute, the Court considered it necessary to determine whether the transfer of assets to the trust had entailed a genuine divestiture of those assets by the taxpayer.
In this regard, the Court drew a distinction between revocable trusts, in which the settlor may retain control over the assets or the ability to revoke the structure, and irrevocable trusts, in which the transfer may result in the definitive removal of the assets from the settlor’s estate.
Upon examining the trust documentation, the Court noted that the taxpayer had expressly waived her powers to alter, amend, revoke, or terminate the trust and had absolutely and permanently relinquished her rights over the contributed assets and their proceeds.
The Court also took into account that the taxpayer was neither a beneficiary, trustee, nor protector of the trust, and that her involvement had been limited to the initial contribution of the assets, without retaining any management or disposal rights over them.
Another factor considered relevant was the date on which the trust was established. The structure had been created on March 30, 2020, while Law No. 27,605 entered into force on December 18 of that same year. The transfer had therefore taken place more than 180 days before the law’s effective date, the period established by the law itself within which the tax authority may disregard certain changes in net worth when a scheme to evade the contribution may be presumed.
On the basis of these circumstances, the Court concluded that, at the time Law No. 27,605 entered into force, the transferred funds no longer formed part of the taxpayer’s estate and should therefore not be included in the taxable base of the Solidarity Contribution.
The Court’s Ruling
The Court held that the approximately ARS 948 million transferred to the irrevocable trust should be excluded from the Solidarity Contribution’s taxable base.
As a result of that exclusion, the taxpayer’s remaining assets, both domestic and foreign, did not exceed the ARS 200 million threshold established by Law No. 27,605, and accordingly no tax liability arose.
Panel “D” therefore unanimously resolved to revoke the ex officio assessment in its entirety, including the compensatory interest and the penalty imposed, with costs awarded against the Tax Authority.
Why does this matter?
The ruling constitutes a significant precedent regarding the treatment of assets transferred to irrevocable trusts for purposes of the Solidarity Contribution.
The decision focuses not on the name or label of the structure used, but rather on whether an effective and definitive divestiture of the assets actually occurred, an analysis that turns on the powers retained by the settlor, the specific characteristics of the trust, and the timing of the transfer.
