Córdoba: Passerini continues to collect municipal surcharges on Aguas Cordobesas bills

Camouflaged in the water bills of all Córdoba residents, the Municipality collects a mandatory "contribution" of 16% monthly. That percentage is calculated based on the taxable amount of the service, applied automatically to each bill issued by Aguas Cordobesas.

The surcharge, endorsed by Article 93 bis of the Tax Code, once again exposes the fiscal voracity of the country's municipalities. This "contribution," created by municipal ordinance, was approved by the Córdoba City Council in December 2023. With it, a hidden fee is imposed that continues to take money out of the pockets of the residents of Córdoba's capital.

Evidence of the surcharge 

Below are two concrete examples of the impact of this contribution on users' monthly billing. In one case published on social media, the service cost $23,971 and the CFIS was $3,835, totaling $34,086 with VAT and IIBB. In another example, the taxable base was $11,094, the CFIS was $1,775, and the final total was $15,775, also with other taxes included.

Fiscal transparency regime

The national government rejected these fees in utility bills, as ratified in Resolution 267/2024. That regulation, issued by the Secretariat of Industry and Commerce, prohibits charges unrelated to the provision of essential services. The measure seeks to protect the consumer and stop the incorporation of taxes outside the national regime.

With that premise, the aim was to prevent the inclusion of surcharges that do not correspond to the service. This consumer protection was in response to attempts to undermine their freedom of action by forcing them to pay additional amounts for essential services.

Appeal to the courts

At the beginning of this year, the Municipality of Córdoba turned to the courts in order to continue collecting these "contributions" - mandatory - in the billing of EPEC and Aguas Cordobesas.

At the beginning of last May, in a remarkable ruling, the courts did not grant a request from the National Consumer Protection Agency that sought to eliminate these additional charges in public utility bills. This decision, which contradicts the Fiscal Transparency Regime approved at the national level in 2024, adds to the list of tools used by the State Party as a voracious revenue-generating machine.

Municipal CFIS

The revenue regulation, applied since 2022, is coercively imposed for the supposed financing of public works by the municipality. However, the Municipality already receives other income for that same purpose, which raises suspicions about its justification.

The surcharge applied, which corresponds to 16% of the taxable base, only represents yet another abuse by the municipality against Córdoba citizens who, day after day, are being fiscally suffocated by Passerini's revenue-generating machine.