Chamber I of the Federal Court of Appeals of La Plata overturned the injunction that had halted Regulatory Resolution 26/2024 of the Buenos Aires Province Revenue Agency (ARBA). With this decision, the Sectional Registries of the National Directorate of Motor Vehicle Property (DNRPA) will continue to act as collection and withholding agents for Automotive and Stamp Taxes, a practice that has been in place for over three decades.
The court—composed of judges Roberto Agustín Lemos Arias and César Álvarez—warned that interrupting the scheme "would cause serious harm to the Buenos Aires treasury without causing damage to the national government." The court also emphasized that administrative acts are presumed valid and that injunctions seeking to suspend them must meet strict requirements, which in this case were not met.
This way, the judiciary gave a boost to the provincial administration and a setback to the strategy of the Ministry of Justice of the Nation, which had promoted the action against ARBA's regulation. The Buenos Aires government was quick to celebrate: it described the ruling as "a triumph of federalism and provincial autonomy", and stressed that the measure "confirms the provinces' taxing powers and, in particular, their authority to administer direct taxes."
The origin of the conflict
The collection scheme has its roots in the Service Complementation Agreement signed on October 3, 1991 between the Buenos Aires Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Justice of the Nation. That agreement authorized the heads of sectional registries located in Buenos Aires territory to register as provincial tax withholding agents, collecting amounts at the time of processing transactions.
However, on August 30, 2024, the national Ministry of Justice denounced that agreement through Resolution 276, in line with its administrative deregulation policy. On September 4, the DNRPA formally notified ARBA of the termination of the agreement. Despite this, the Buenos Aires agency issued Regulatory Resolution 26/2024 on September 27, which imposed the continuation of the registries' obligation as collection agents.
