How Argentina's political and legal system works for investors

Key rules

1. The Constitution: 1853 text, 1994 reform

• Official text. Law 24.430 (sanctioned 15 December 1994, promulgated 3 January 1995, BO 10 January 1995 per the Infoleg search record) orders publication of the official text "sanctioned in 1853 with the reforms of the years 1860, 1866, 1898, 1957 and 1994" (Law 24.430 art. 1).
• Form of government. Representative, republican and federal (art. 1). Each province enacts its own constitution under the republican system and must ensure its own administration of justice, municipal regime and primary education (art. 5).
• Reform procedure. Congress declares the need for reform by at least two thirds of its members; the reform itself is done by a convention called for that purpose, not by Congress (art. 30).
• Rights an investor relies on. Right to work and engage in any lawful industry, trade, and use and dispose of property, "according to the laws that regulate their exercise" (art. 14). Property is inviolable; expropriation requires a law declaring public utility and prior compensation; confiscation is abolished; only Congress imposes the taxes listed in art. 4 (art. 17). Equality is "the basis of taxation and public burdens" (art. 16). Foreigners enjoy all the civil rights of citizens: to work, trade, own, buy and sell real estate, navigate rivers and coasts (art. 20). No one is obliged to do what the law does not command (art. 19).
• Reasonableness. Laws that regulate rights may not alter them (art. 28). This is the textual base for the courts' reasonableness review of regulation (unconfirmed).
• Amparo. Any person may bring a fast "amparo" action against any act or omission of public authorities or private parties that, with manifest arbitrariness or illegality, harms constitutional, treaty or statutory rights, if no more suitable judicial remedy exists; the judge may declare the underlying norm unconstitutional (art. 43). Amparo is the usual route to challenge a decree in court quickly. Since the 2024 reform of the administrative procedure law, an amparo against a general act does not need a prior administrative claim (Law 19.549 art. 24(a)(i), as replaced by Law 27.742).
• Democratic order clause. Acts of force against the constitutional order are "insanably null" (art. 36).

2. The three branches

Legislative. Congress has two chambers (art. 44).

• Chamber of Deputies. Members are elected directly by the people of the provinces and the CABA, treated as districts of a single state (art. 45). They serve four years and are reelected without limit; the chamber is renewed by halves every two years (art. 50). The Constitution sets a base of one deputy per 33,000 inhabitants (art. 45), but the number actually applied comes from Law 22.847 of 1983: one deputy per 161,000 inhabitants or fraction of at least 80,500, plus three per district, with a floor of five per district (Law 22.847 art. 3). The total is 257: 127 seats were up in 2025 and 130 in 2019 (and therefore again in 2023, four years later) (DINE news on Decree 335/2025; argentina.gob.ar "Cargos a elegir 2019").
• Senate. Three senators per province and three for the CABA, elected directly: two seats to the party with most votes and one to the runner up (art. 54). With 24 districts (23 provinces and the CABA, as listed in the 2025 DINE report), that is 72 senators. They serve six years, and one third of the districts is renewed every two years (art. 56).
• Ordinary sessions run from 1 March to 30 November each year. The President may extend them or call extraordinary sessions (art. 63; art. 99(9)).
• Quorum. Neither chamber may sit without an absolute majority of its members (art. 64): 129 of 257 deputies and 37 of 72 senators.
• How a bill becomes law. A bill may start in either chamber (art. 77), with exceptions: for example the tax sharing "ley convenio" must start in the Senate (art. 75(2)). It passes to the other chamber, then to the Executive (art. 78). Each chamber may delegate approval of the details to a committee by absolute majority of its members (art. 79). A bill not returned by the Executive within ten working days is deemed approved (art. 80). Tacit or implied approval by a chamber is excluded in all cases (art. 82).
• Veto and partial promulgation. The President may veto in whole or in part. Unvetoed parts may be promulgated only if they have normative autonomy and do not alter the spirit or unity of the bill; in that case the DNU control procedure applies (art. 80). Congress overrides a veto with two thirds in both chambers (art. 83).
• Impeachment. The Chamber of Deputies accuses (two thirds of members present) the President, ministers and Supreme Court judges (art. 53); the Senate tries them and convicts by two thirds of members present (art. 59).
• Citizen initiative and referendum. Citizens may present bills, but not on constitutional reform, treaties, taxes, budget or criminal matters (art. 39). Congress may submit a bill to a binding popular consultation; the President may call non binding ones (art. 40).

Executive.

• The President is head of state and of government and politically responsible for the general administration (art. 99(1)). The term is four years, with one consecutive reelection (art. 90). Election is direct, in two rounds, in a single national district (art. 94). A first round win requires more than 45% of valid affirmative votes (art. 97), or at least 40% with a lead of more than ten points (art. 98).
• The President issues the regulations needed to execute laws, "taking care not to alter their spirit with regulatory exceptions" (art. 99(2)). These are regulatory decrees (decretos reglamentarios).
• The Chief of Cabinet (jefe de gabinete de ministros) runs the general administration and is politically responsible to Congress (art. 100). The Chief of Cabinet countersigns delegated decrees, DNUs and partial promulgation decrees and must submit DNUs and partial promulgation decrees to the Permanent Bicameral Committee within ten days (art. 100(12) and (13)). Congress may remove the Chief of Cabinet by a motion of censure: absolute majority of all members of each chamber (art. 101).
• Recess appointments. The President may fill vacancies in posts that require Senate consent if they arise during the Senate's recess, by appointments "in commission" that expire at the end of the next legislative year (art. 99(19)). This power was used for the Supreme Court in 2025 (see section 8).

Judicial. The judiciary is a Supreme Court and the lower courts Congress creates (art. 108). Judges keep their posts during good behaviour and their pay may not be reduced (art. 110). Federal courts hear cases on the Constitution, national laws and treaties, cases where the Nation is a party, admiralty, and cases between provinces or between a province or its residents and a foreign state or citizen (art. 116). The Supreme Court hears cases on appeal under rules set by Congress and has original and exclusive jurisdiction in cases involving foreign diplomats and those where a province is a party (art. 117). The Council of the Magistracy selects lower court judges by public competition and sends binding shortlists of three, manages the judicial budget and opens removal proceedings (art. 114; Law 24.937, BO 6 January 1998). Lower federal judges are removed by a jury of legislators, judges and lawyers (art. 115).

3. Decrees of necessity and urgency (DNUs): art. 99(3) and Law 26.122

The constitutional rule. The Executive "may in no case, on pain of absolute and insanable nullity, issue provisions of a legislative character". Only when exceptional circumstances make it impossible to follow the ordinary procedure for passing laws, and never on criminal, tax, electoral or political party matters, may it issue DNUs. They must be decided in a general agreement of ministers, who countersign them together with the Chief of Cabinet. The Chief of Cabinet submits the DNU personally within ten days to the Permanent Bicameral Committee, whose composition must reflect each chamber's political proportions. The Committee reports within ten days to each chamber "for its express treatment", which the chambers must consider "immediately". A special law passed by an absolute majority of all members of each chamber regulates the procedure (art. 99(3)).

Law 26.122 (sanctioned 20 July 2006, promulgated 27 July 2006, BO 28 July 2006) is that special law. It covers three kinds of decree: DNUs, delegated decrees and decrees that partially promulgate laws (art. 1). Its key rules:

What this means in practice.

• A DNU is law from publication (art. 17) until both chambers reject it (art. 24). Rejection by one chamber only does not repeal it. Silence by both chambers does not repeal it either.
• That reading is contested. Art. 82 of the Constitution excludes "tacit or implied sanction" in all cases, and Law 26.122 art. 22 repeats that approval must be express. Critics argue that a DNU that is never expressly approved should not survive indefinitely; the text of Law 26.122 nevertheless keeps it in force. Whether the Supreme Court has ruled on this point could not be checked in a permitted source (unconfirmed).
• Courts review DNUs separately from Congress. A DNU can be challenged in court as unconstitutional, for example for lack of genuine necessity and urgency or for touching a forbidden subject such as taxes. No prior administrative claim is needed to challenge in court decrees issued under arts. 76, 80 and 99(3) (Law 19.549 art. 24(a)(ii), as replaced by Law 27.742). The standard the courts apply is not in the project sources (unconfirmed).
• Reform of Law 26.122. The Infoleg list of norms that amend or complement Law 26.122 (checked 26 October 2026) shows no amending law. Any bill to reform the regime that may have been debated in Congress is not reflected there (unconfirmed).

4. Delegated legislation: art. 76 and the Bases Law

• Constitutional rule. Legislative delegation to the Executive is prohibited, except "in determined matters of administration or public emergency, with a fixed term for its exercise and within the bases of delegation that Congress establishes". When the term expires, legal relationships created under the delegated rules are not revised (art. 76). Delegations made before 1994 without a fixed term lapsed five years after the reform unless ratified by a new law (Eighth transitory clause).
• Control. Delegated decrees are countersigned by the Chief of Cabinet and controlled by the Permanent Bicameral Committee (art. 100(12); Law 26.122 arts. 12 and 13).
• Law 27.742 (Bases Law). Sanctioned 27 June 2024 and published in the BO on 8 July 2024 (Infoleg record; BO notice "e. 08/07/2024 N° 44030/24"). It:
• declared a public emergency in administrative, economic, financial and energy matters for one year and delegated to the Executive the powers it lists, "in the terms of art. 76", for the same term; the Executive must report to Congress monthly (art. 1);
• set the bases for administrative reorganisation: better functioning of the State, reduction of oversized structures, effective internal control (art. 2);
• let the Executive modify or eliminate legal functions of agencies created by law and reorganise, merge, split or dissolve them, but not universities, the judiciary, Congress or the public prosecution service, and not dissolve a list of agencies including CONICET, ANMAT, INPI, ENACOM, the CNV and others (art. 3);
• declared a list of State companies "subject to privatisation" under Law 23.696: Energía Argentina SA and Intercargo SAU (privatisation), and AySA, Belgrano Cargas y Logística, SOFSE and Corredores Viales (privatisation or concession) (art. 7 and Annex I); and allowed only partial private participation, with the State keeping control, in Nucleoeléctrica Argentina SA and in the Río Turbio coal complex (arts. 8 and 9);
• placed delegated decrees under the control of the Permanent Bicameral Committee (art. 234), and entered into force the day after publication (art. 237).
• When did the delegation end? The law entered into force on 9 July 2024 (the day after BO publication, art. 237), and the delegation ran "for the term" of one year (art. 1). Under the civil computation rule, month and year terms run from date to date (CCyC art. 6). The delegation therefore expired in early July 2025 (unconfirmed). Delegated Decrees 461/2025 and 462/2025 are dated 7 July 2025 (Infoleg records of Deputies Res. 94/2025 and 95/2025), at the very end of the window.
• Example of a delegated decree: ARCA. Decree 953/2024 (BO 25 October 2024) dissolved AFIP and created the Agencia de Recaudación y Control Aduanero (ARCA). Its recitals cite the Bases Law emergency and delegation, and its legal basis is art. 99(1) of the Constitution and art. 3(b) of Law 27.742 (Decree 953/2024, recitals and art. 1). It orders that account be given to the Permanent Bicameral Committee (art. 13).

5. Federalism: provinces, the CABA and municipalities

• Residual powers. Provinces keep all power not delegated to the federal government (art. 121), create their own institutions and elect their own authorities without federal intervention (art. 122), and enact their own constitutions ensuring municipal autonomy, including in economic and financial matters (art. 123).
• What provinces may not do. They may not legislate on commerce or navigation, set up customs, coin money, create banks of issue without congressional authorisation, or enact the Civil, Commercial, Criminal and Mining codes once Congress has done so (art. 126).
• What provinces may do. Form regions, sign international agreements compatible with national foreign policy (with notice to Congress), and they hold "original ownership" of natural resources in their territory (art. 124). They may promote industry and the import of foreign capital with their own resources (art. 125). This is why mining and hydrocarbon investors negotiate concessions and royalties with provinces.
• The CABA. Autonomous, with its own legislative and judicial powers and an elected head of government; a national law protects the federal State's interests while the City is the capital (art. 129).
• Codes are national, courts are local. Congress enacts the Civil, Commercial, Criminal, Mining and Labour codes, but they are applied by federal or provincial courts depending on the persons or things involved (art. 75(12)). So the same CCyC is applied by 24 different local court systems plus the federal courts, which can produce different interpretations. See Courts.
• Company registries are local too. Each province and the CABA keeps its own public registry of companies. See IGJ vs provinces.
• Supremacy. The Constitution, national laws made under it and treaties are the supreme law; provincial authorities must follow them despite any contrary provincial law or constitution (art. 31).

6. Coparticipación: how national taxes are shared

• Constitutional basis. Indirect taxes are concurrent between Nation and provinces; direct national taxes may be levied for a fixed time when the general good requires. Except earmarked taxes, both are shared (coparticipables). A "ley convenio" agreed between the Nation and the provinces must set up the sharing system, guaranteeing automatic transfer of funds; it must start in the Senate, be passed by an absolute majority of all members of each chamber, may not be amended unilaterally and must be approved by the provinces. A federal fiscal body supervises it (art. 75(2)). Earmarking of shared resources requires a special law with the same majority (art. 75(3)).
• The missed deadline. The Sixth transitory clause required the new sharing regime to be set up "before the end of the year 1996". The regime in force is still Law 23.548 of 1988, whose own title calls it a "Transitional Distribution Regime" from 1 January 1988 (Law 23.548 art. 1). No replacement law appears in the sources (unconfirmed).
• What is shared. All existing or future national taxes, except import and export duties, taxes with their own sharing regime, and earmarked taxes (Law 23.548 art. 2). An Infoleg note records that, under Decree 559/92, collection costs are deducted before distribution (note to art. 2).
• Primary distribution (Law 23.548 art. 3):

• Secondary distribution among provinces (art. 4), largest shares: Buenos Aires 19.93%, Santa Fe 9.28%, Córdoba 9.22%, Chaco 5.18%, Entre Ríos 5.07%, Tucumán 4.94%. Smallest: Chubut 1.38%, Santa Cruz 1.38%, Neuquén 1.54%. The 22 listed shares add to 100%. The CABA and Tierra del Fuego are not in the art. 4 list in the Infoleg text (unconfirmed).
• Why investors care: the no double tax pledge. A province adheres by a law that accepts the regime and commits that neither it nor its municipalities will levy local taxes "analogous" to the shared national taxes, with an exception for fees for services actually rendered (Law 23.548 art. 9(b)). This clause is a common basis for challenging provincial or municipal levies that duplicate national taxes. Later fiscal pacts (the "Consensos Fiscales" approved by Laws 27.429, 27.469, 27.542, 27.634 and 27.687, all in the project sources) modify how provinces may tax; see the gross income tax and municipal fees pages. The statutory percentages above are therefore not the full picture of actual transfers (unconfirmed).

7. Civil law system and the Civil and Commercial Code (CCyC)

• Approval and entry into force. Law 26.994 (sanctioned 1 October 2014, promulgated 7 October 2014, BO 8 October 2014) approved the CCyC and repealed the old Civil Code (Law 340) and Commercial Code (Laws 15 and 2.637), except some maritime articles moved to Law 20.094 (Law 26.994 arts. 1 and 4). It originally entered into force on 1 January 2016; Law 27.077 (BO 19 December 2014) brought that forward to 1 August 2015 (Law 26.994 art. 7 as replaced by Law 27.077 art. 1). Laws that complemented the old codes remain in force as complements of the CCyC (art. 5), and every reference to the old codes is read as a reference to the CCyC (art. 6).
• Sources and interpretation. Cases are decided under applicable laws "in accordance with the National Constitution and the human rights treaties"; the purpose of the norm is taken into account; usage and custom bind only when laws or the parties refer to them or in situations the law does not regulate (CCyC art. 1). Laws are interpreted by their words, purposes, analogous laws, human rights treaties, principles and legal values, coherently with the whole legal order (art. 2). Judges must decide by a "reasonably founded decision" (art. 3).
• Who is bound. Laws bind everyone in the territory, citizens or foreigners, resident, domiciled or passing through (art. 4). Ignorance of the law is no excuse (art. 8).
• Time. Laws take effect after the eighth day of their official publication, or from the day they set (art. 5). They apply to the consequences of existing legal relations; they are not retroactive unless they say so, and retroactivity may not affect constitutionally protected rights. New supplementary laws do not apply to contracts already being performed, except rules more favourable to consumers (art. 7).
• Counting days. Days run midnight to midnight; the start day is excluded; months and years run from date to date; terms expire at 24:00 of the last day; civil terms count calendar days, including non working days, unless the law or the parties say otherwise (art. 6). Administrative and court deadlines usually count working days under their own rules: for example the 180 "judicial working days" to sue the State (Law 19.549 art. 25, as replaced by Law 27.742 art. 43).
• Good faith and abuse of rights. Rights must be exercised in good faith (art. 9). Abusive exercise is not protected, and the judge must prevent its effects (art. 10); this also applies to abuse of a dominant position in the market (art. 11).
• Role of precedent. No provision in the sources makes judicial decisions formally binding on other courts. Supreme Court rulings carry strong persuasive authority in practice (unconfirmed).
• DNU 70/2023 changes to the CCyC (freedom of contract and payment in the agreed foreign currency, arts. 958, 765 and 766 as replaced by DNU 70/2023 arts. 250 to 252) are explained in Argentina in 10 minutes. Their survival depends on the DNU's survival (see Example 1).

8. The Supreme Court: size, vacancies and the 2025 appointments

• Size. Five judges (Decree Law 1285/58 art. 21, text by Law 26.183 art. 2; Law 26.183 BO 18 December 2006). The transitional clause of Law 26.183 reduced the Court gradually from seven to five as vacancies occurred; once at five, decisions require the absolute majority of its members (Law 26.183 art. 3).
• Requirements and appointment. A lawyer with eight years of practice and the qualifications to be a senator (art. 111). The President appoints with the consent of two thirds of the senators present, in a public session (art. 99(4)). A new appointment is needed to keep a judge in office after age 75, for renewable five year terms (art. 99(4)).
• Vacancies. According to the recitals of Decree 137/2025, two vacancies existed: one since 1 November 2021 (resignation accepted by Decree 747/2021) and one since 29 December 2024 (resignation accepted by Decree 1128/2024). The recitals note that with three members, the Court needed three concurring votes for each decision (citing Decree Law 1285/58 art. 23 and Law 26.183 art. 3), and warned of a risk of paralysis.
• Appointments in commission. Decree 137/2025 (dated 25 February 2025, BO 26 February 2025) appointed two judges "in commission" under art. 99(19), arguing that the Senate was in recess and had not dealt with the nominations sent to it (recitals and arts. 1 and 2). This use of recess appointments for the Supreme Court is contested: art. 99(4) requires two thirds Senate consent, and the recitals themselves spend several pages defending the reading that art. 99(19) covers federal judges. One appointee resigned with effect from 7 April 2025 (Decree 276/2025, BO 16 April 2025).
• Current composition. Not confirmed (unconfirmed).

9. Hierarchy of norms and treaties

The hierarchy below follows arts. 31 and 75(22) and (24) of the Constitution. National and provincial norms sit in two parallel ladders joined at the top by art. 31.

What it means for investors.

• Treaties beat later laws. A bilateral investment treaty or a double taxation convention approved by Congress prevails over an inconsistent national law (art. 75(22)). See the page on bilateral treaties and ICSID (/guide/investing/bilateral-treaties-icsid/).
• Integration treaties and Mercosur. Approval of integration treaties with Latin American states needs an absolute majority of all members of each chamber; with other states, a declaration of convenience followed at least 120 days later by approval by an absolute majority of all members (art. 75(24)).
• Treaty conformity. The Federal Government must strengthen peace and trade relations with foreign powers through treaties "in conformity with the principles of public law established in this Constitution" (art. 27).
• Regulations may not exceed the law. A regulatory decree may not alter the spirit of the law with exceptions (art. 99(2)); the bases of a delegation cannot be regulated by the Executive (Law 26.122 art. 11). An agency resolution that goes beyond its enabling law can be challenged in court.

10. Publication in the Boletín Oficial

• Laws. In force after the eighth day of publication or from the day they set (CCyC art. 5). The President promulgates and "has published" laws (art. 99(3), first sentence).
• Administrative acts. A general act takes effect only on publication in the Boletín Oficial; a particular act on notification to the person concerned. General acts take effect after the eighth day of publication or from the day they set (Law 19.549 art. 11, as replaced by Law 27.742 art. 32).
• Decree control resolutions of the chambers are published in the Boletín Oficial (Law 26.122 art. 26). The 2024 and 2025 rejections were published that way (see Table 3).
• Where to read. The Boletín Oficial (boletinoficial.gob.ar) publishes the official daily edition. Infoleg (servicios.infoleg.gob.ar) and argentina.gob.ar/normativa reproduce the original text and, for many norms, an updated text (texto actualizado) with "Nota Infoleg" annotations recording later amendments. The ARCA electronic library (biblioteca.arca.gob.ar) shows each RG with its status ("Vigente") and links to the RGs it amends. The legal effect of the digital Boletín Oficial edition rests on a decree that could not be downloaded for this page (unconfirmed).

Step by step

A. Tracking a new rule that affects your business

1. Read the Boletín Oficial every working morning (boletinoficial.gob.ar, free). The First Section carries laws, decrees, DNUs, decisions and resolutions. Filter by the issuing body that regulates you (ARCA, BCRA, CNV, IGJ, UIF, your ministry).
2. Identify the type of norm from its header: "Ley", "Decreto", "DNU", "Decisión Administrativa", "Resolución", "Resolución General", "Comunicación" (BCRA). The type tells you its rank (Table in section 9) and how it can be challenged.
3. Check the legal basis paragraph ("se dicta en ejercicio de las facultades conferidas por..."). For a decree, art. 99(1) or (2) alone means an ordinary or regulatory decree; art. 99(3) means a DNU; a citation of a delegating law (for example "artículo 3°, inciso b) de la Ley N° 27.742") means a delegated decree.
4. Find the entry into force clause. Most norms say "entrará en vigencia el día de su publicación" or "a partir del día siguiente". If there is none, the default is after the eighth day from publication (CCyC art. 5; Law 19.549 art. 11).
5. Check for transition rules and applicability dates, which can differ from entry into force (for example "será de aplicación para los períodos fiscales que se inicien a partir de...").
6. Open the updated text on Infoleg (link "Texto actualizado") to see whether later norms amended it. Use the Infoleg list of "Normas que modifican y/o complementan" to find later amendments and congressional resolutions.
7. For a DNU or delegated decree, track Congress: whether the Bicameral Committee issued an opinion and whether each chamber voted. A rejection is published as a resolution of each chamber in the Boletín Oficial (Law 26.122 art. 26).
8. Decide whether to comply, seek an extension, or challenge. A general act can be challenged in court after a prior administrative claim, within 180 judicial working days of notice of the denial; no prior claim is needed for amparo or for DNUs, delegated and partial promulgation decrees (Law 19.549 arts. 24 and 25 as replaced by Law 27.742). See Courts.
9. Check the provincial layer. If the rule invites provinces to adhere (for example Law 27.742 art. 235 invites provinces and the CABA to adopt congruent procedures), check whether your province has done so.

Cost to do it. Reading the Boletín Oficial, Infoleg, argentina.gob.ar/normativa and the ARCA library is free and online. Time: about 15 to 30 minutes per working day for a compliance officer filtering by issuer (estimate, not from a source). A court challenge involves court fees, lawyers' fees and, for some actions, prior administrative steps; see Courts for the fee rules. Capital required: none.

B. How to read a law

1. Header: number (for example "Ley 27.742"), title, dates of sanction and promulgation. The BO publication date is on the Infoleg record ("Publicada en el Boletín Oficial del...").
2. Enacting formula: "El Senado y Cámara de Diputados de la Nación Argentina reunidos en Congreso, etc. sancionan con fuerza de Ley" (art. 84).
3. Structure: Títulos, Capítulos, Artículos, incisos (letters or numbers), párrafos. Cite as "Law 27.742 art. 3(b)".
4. Amending articles: "Sustitúyese el artículo X de la ley Y por el siguiente" (replace), "Incorpórase" (add), "Derógase" (repeal). The amended text lives inside the old law, so always read the updated text of the amended law.
5. Final provisions: regulation deadline (Law 27.742 art. 236: 90 days for the Executive to regulate), entry into force (art. 237), "Comuníquese al Poder Ejecutivo".
6. Footer: "DADA EN LA SALA DE SESIONES..." with the date of sanction, then the BO notice code (for example "e. 08/07/2024 N° 44030/24 v. 08/07/2024", meaning entry and expiry date of the notice in the BO).

C. How to read a decree

1. Identifier: for example "DECTO-2025-137-APN-PTE" (Decree 137/2025, Presidency). A DNU is labelled "Decreto DNU" on Infoleg and argentina.gob.ar.
2. VISTO: the file number and norms considered.
3. CONSIDERANDO: the reasons. For a DNU, look for the paragraph explaining why Congress could not follow the ordinary procedure, and the reference to Law 26.122 (DNU 70/2023 recitals cite arts. 22 and 19 of Law 26.122).
4. Legal basis line (see A.3).
5. Signature block: a DNU must be signed by all ministers and the Chief of Cabinet (art. 99(3)); a delegated decree by the Chief of Cabinet (art. 100(12)).
6. Final articles: "Dese cuenta a la Comisión Bicameral Permanente" signals a decree subject to Law 26.122 (DNU 70/2023 art. 365; Decree 953/2024 art. 13).

D. How to read a resolution and an ARCA general resolution (RG)

1. Issuer and number: "Resolución General N° 5911/2026", identifier "RESOG-2026-5911-E-ARCA-ARCA".
2. Library metadata (ARCA site): issue date, BO date, errata, status ("Vigente"), topic, and the list of RGs it amends.
3. VISTO and CONSIDERANDO: what problem the RG solves and which RGs it changes.
4. Legal basis: for ARCA usually Law 11.683 (tax procedure) art. 20, which lets ARCA set due dates for payment and filing, plus Decree 618/1997 art. 7 and Decree 953/2024 (RG 5911/2026, recitals).
5. Operative articles: "Sustituir", "Incorporar", "Derogar", followed by the new text in quotation marks.
6. Entry into force and "Comuníquese".
7. Check the amended RG's updated text and later RGs that amend this one.

Example 3 below walks through RG 5911/2026 line by line.

Costs and timelines

Table 1. Majorities and thresholds in Congress

Seat counts are computed from 257 deputies and 72 senators and rounded up.

Table 2. Deadlines in the decree control procedure

Table 3. Decrees rejected by both chambers, 2024 to 2025 (Infoleg records)

"Days in force" counts calendar days from the decree's BO date to the BO date of the rejections. The Infoleg list linked to Law 26.122 also records an approval: Senate Res. 39/2024 (BO 4 October 2024) approved Decree 829/2019 under Law 26.122.

Table 4. Timeline of norms with Boletín Oficial dates

Table 5. The 2025 renewal by district (Decree 335/2025, as summarised by the National Electoral Directorate)

Electorate: 35,987,634 registered voters, including 1,139,315 aged 16 and 17 and 490,726 living abroad; 17,530 polling places and 109,046 polling tables; first use of the single paper ballot (Boleta Única Papel) nationally, with 40,113,265 ballots printed (DINE report). Results by party and the resulting bloc composition: (unconfirmed).

Worked examples

Example 1: how a DNU like 70/2023 becomes "law" or falls, and what it means for a dollar clause

Facts. A foreign owned company signs in CABA a two year commercial lease of offices at US$ 2,000 a month, payable in dollars. The clause relies on CCyC art. 765 as replaced by DNU 70/2023 art. 250, under which the debtor is only discharged by paying in the agreed currency and judges may not change it.

Step 1. Issue and publication. DNU 70/2023 was signed on 20 December 2023 and published in BO No. 35,326, page 3, on 21 December 2023 (Infoleg record).

Step 2. Entry into force. The DNU has no general entry into force clause in its final articles (arts. 365 and 366 only order notice to the Bicameral Committee and publication). The default rule is that norms apply "after the eighth day of their official publication" (CCyC art. 5). Counting from 22 December, the eighth day is 29 December 2023 (unconfirmed).

Step 3. Submission to Congress. The decree orders account to be given to the Permanent Bicameral Committee (art. 365). The Chief of Cabinet had ten days to submit it (Constitution art. 99(3)); the Committee then had ten working days to issue its opinion (Law 26.122 art. 19), after which each chamber could take it up directly (art. 20). The dates of submission, any Committee opinion and any floor votes are not in the project sources (unconfirmed).

Step 4. The two possible outcomes.

Step 5. What the record shows. The Infoleg list of 50 norms that modify or complement DNU 70/2023 (checked 26 October 2026) contains extensions and regulations (for example Decree 1120/2024 extending a term by 60 days and Decree 942/2025 extending the health emergency to 31 December 2026) but no rejection resolution of either chamber. By contrast, the same kind of list for Law 26.122 shows rejection resolutions of both chambers for DNU 656/2024 and DNU 340/2025. On the Law 26.122 test, DNU 70/2023 is therefore in force as published and amended, except where courts have suspended or struck down specific articles (unconfirmed) or where later laws replaced the same provisions.

Step 6. How long has it lasted? From publication on 21 December 2023 to 26 October 2026 is 1,040 days. For comparison, DNU 656/2024 lasted 62 days and DNU 340/2025 lasted 96 days before Congress rejected them (Table 3).

Step 7. Money at stake under the lease.

If both chambers rejected the DNU in month 13, art. 24 of Law 26.122 would protect "rights acquired" during its validity. Whether the remaining 12 months (US$ 24,000, ARS 37,533,600) would still be payable only in dollars, or could be paid in pesos under the original art. 765, is uncertain. CCyC art. 7 says new supplementary laws do not apply to contracts in course of performance, but the original art. 765 has been argued to be mandatory, and courts have not settled how a repeal would affect existing contracts (unconfirmed). Practical response: draft the dollar clause so that it also stands on the parties' express agreement under freedom of contract (CCyC art. 958), add a fallback conversion rate and a renegotiation trigger, and do not rely on the DNU alone.

Example 2: following one peso of national tax to your province (coparticipación)

Facts. Assume ARCA collects ARS 1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion pesos, US$ 639,427,073) of shareable national taxes in a month, after deduction of collection costs. The statutory percentages of Law 23.548 apply. This ignores preallocations and fiscal pacts, which change actual transfers (unconfirmed).

Step 1. Primary distribution (art. 3).

Step 2. Secondary distribution (art. 4) plus recovery fund (art. 3(c)).

Step 3. Reading the result. Of every 100 pesos of shareable national tax, the Province of Buenos Aires receives about 12.46 pesos by statute (124.64 bn of 1 trillion), Córdoba about 5.04 and Chubut about 0.90. Buenos Aires province's share of the electorate in 2025 was 13,353,974 of 35,987,634, about 37.1% (DINE report). That gap between population and share is why provinces depend on their own taxes (gross income tax, stamp tax) and on discretionary transfers such as the ATN fund. For an investor, that means provincial tax pressure and the risk of new local levies are structural, and the no analogous tax pledge in Law 23.548 art. 9(b) is a key legal defence.

Cost to do it. Nothing for the investor directly; the example explains why provincial taxes and fees are high and why the province where you locate matters. See IGJ vs provinces for the registry side.

Example 3: reading ARCA General Resolution 5911/2026 and costing a late payment

The text, read in order.

The trap. Many taxpayers read "extension to 30 October" and assume they can also pay then. The table in art. 1 keeps the payment deadline at 27 July 2026.

Costing the trap. An individual has an income tax balance of ARS 4,000,000 (US$ 2,557.71) for 2025 and pays it on 30 October 2026, together with the return.

• Days late: 27 July to 30 October 2026 = 95 days.
• Resarcitory interest under Law 11.683 art. 37 runs from the due date without any demand. The rate is 2.75% per month since 1 July 2025 (Res. MECON 3/2024 art. 1, as replaced by Res. MECON 823/2025 art. 1).
• Interest, prorated per day on a 30 day month: 4,000,000 × 2.75% × 95 / 30 = ARS 348,333.33 (US$ 222.73) (unconfirmed).
• Total paid on 30 October: ARS 4,348,333.33 (US$ 2,780.44).

Cost to do it. Filing is online through ARCA's systems with tax ID and tax password; no fee. The cost of misreading this RG in the example is ARS 348,333.33 (US$ 222.73) of interest, plus any penalty that may apply (unconfirmed).

Practical traps

• Assuming a DNU is temporary. Unless both chambers reject it, a DNU is permanent (Law 26.122 arts. 17 and 24). DNU 70/2023 has been in force for over 1,000 days.
• Assuming a DNU is safe. Congress did reject decrees in 2024 and 2025 (Table 3), and courts can suspend articles. Contract clauses that depend on a DNU rule should have a second legal anchor.
• Confusing emergency periods. DNU 70/2023 declared an emergency until 31 December 2025, extended only for health to 31 December 2026 (Decree 942/2025, Infoleg note). Law 27.742 declared a different one year emergency with delegated powers. Delegated powers lapse with their term; rules already issued under them survive (Constitution art. 76, second paragraph).
• Reading the original text. Infoleg and argentina.gob.ar/normativa show both "texto original" and "texto actualizado". Always work from the updated text, and read the "Nota Infoleg" annotations. Even updated texts lag: check the list of norms that amend the norm.
• Ignoring entry into force. A resolution "in force from publication" may still apply only from a later period. A law with no date takes effect after the eighth day (CCyC art. 5).
• Counting days wrongly. Civil terms count calendar days (CCyC art. 6); administrative and court terms usually count working days (for example "días hábiles judiciales" in Law 19.549 art. 25).
• Treating the CABA like a province for everything. It has autonomy (art. 129) but national ordinary courts still sit there and the IGJ is a national body (unconfirmed). See Courts and IGJ vs provinces.
• Forgetting that codes are applied locally. The same CCyC article can be applied differently by courts in Córdoba, Mendoza and the CABA (art. 75(12)).
• Assuming tax by decree is valid. Art. 99(3) bars DNUs on tax matters, and art. 17 reserves taxes to Congress. Delegated decrees on tax are also open to challenge under art. 76 (unconfirmed). A tax measure issued by decree is a litigation risk.
• Relying on a Supreme Court majority that may not exist. With vacancies, the Court needs three concurring votes out of three sitting judges (Decree 137/2025, recitals). Any recusal or disagreement can delay rulings.
• Missing provincial adhesion. Many national regimes (for example the Bases Law's invitation in art. 235) only work locally if the province adheres by its own law.

Recent changes

• 21 Dec 2023. DNU 70/2023 published (BO 35,326).
• 8 Jul 2024. Law 27.742 published: one year emergency and delegation of powers; administrative procedure reform (Law 19.549 arts. 1 bis, 11, 23 to 25 replaced or added); privatisation list.
• 23 Sep 2024. Rejections of DNU 656/2024 by both chambers published (Deputies Res. 76/2024, Senate Res. 32/2024).
• 4 Oct 2024. Senate Res. 39/2024 approving Decree 829/2019 under Law 26.122 published.
• 25 Oct 2024. Decree 953/2024 dissolves AFIP and creates ARCA under Law 27.742 art. 3(b).
• 26 Feb 2025. Decree 137/2025 appoints two Supreme Court judges in commission.
• 16 Apr 2025. Decree 276/2025 accepts one resignation, effective 7 April 2025.
• 20 May 2025. Decree 335/2025 calls national legislative elections for 26 October 2025 (DINE news, 21 May 2025).
• Early Jul 2025. Bases Law delegation expires one year after entry into force (unconfirmed); Decrees 461 and 462/2025 issued on 7 July 2025.
• 25 Aug 2025. Rejections of DNU 340/2025 and delegated Decrees 345, 351, 461 and 462/2025 by both chambers published.
• 26 Oct 2025. Legislative elections: 127 deputies, 24 senators; national use of the single paper ballot (DINE).
• 2 Jan 2026. Health emergency under DNU 70/2023 extended to 31 December 2026 (Decree 942/2025).
• 19 Feb 2026. RIGI adhesion window under Law 27.742 extended by one year from 8 July 2026 (Decree 105/2026).
• 8 Oct 2026. ARCA RG 5911/2026 moves the 2025 income tax filing deadline for individuals to 30 October 2026, after Law 27.826 (sanctioned 17 September 2026).

Pending changes

• Composition of Congress, 2025 to 2027. New members elected on 26 October 2025 took office for terms of four years (deputies) and six years (senators) (arts. 50 and 56) (unconfirmed). Whether the governing coalition alone reaches the thresholds in Table 1 (quorum 129 and 37; one third plus one to sustain a veto) cannot be stated from permitted sources (unconfirmed).
• Supreme Court. Status of the remaining appointment in commission, of nominations before the Senate, and of the vacancies (unconfirmed).
• DNU 70/2023. Whether the second chamber will ever vote on it, and the outcome of court challenges (unconfirmed).
• Reform of Law 26.122. No amending law appears on Infoleg (checked 26 October 2026) (unconfirmed).
• New tax sharing law. Required by the Sixth transitory clause before the end of 1996; still not enacted on the sources reviewed (unconfirmed).
• Health emergency under DNU 70/2023 ends 31 December 2026 unless extended again (unconfirmed).
• RIGI adhesion window under Law 27.742 art. 168 closes on 8 July 2027 after the single extension by Decree 105/2026.
• Transfer of national ordinary courts to the CABA (unconfirmed).

FAQ

1. Can the President change a law by decree? Only by a DNU, and only in exceptional circumstances that make the ordinary legislative procedure impossible, never on criminal, tax, electoral or political party matters (Constitution art. 99(3)). The DNU must be signed by all ministers and the Chief of Cabinet and sent to Congress within ten days. Outside DNUs and delegated powers, the President may only regulate laws without altering their spirit (art. 99(2)).

2. If Congress does nothing about a DNU, is it still valid? Yes, under Law 26.122. A DNU has full force from publication (art. 17) and is repealed only if both chambers reject it (art. 24). This is contested because the Constitution excludes tacit approval (art. 82), but it is the rule in force. Courts can still declare a DNU unconstitutional in a specific case.

3. What happens to my contract if a DNU I relied on is rejected? Rejection by both chambers repeals the decree but leaves "rights acquired during its validity" safe (Law 26.122 art. 24). How that applies to obligations still being performed is uncertain; see Example 1. Give important clauses a second legal basis, such as express agreement under freedom of contract.

4. How do I know whether a decree is a DNU, a delegated decree or an ordinary decree? Read the legal basis line at the end of the recitals. Art. 99(3) means DNU; a citation of a delegating law (such as Law 27.742) and art. 76 means delegated decree; art. 99(1) or (2) alone means an ordinary or regulatory decree. Infoleg labels DNUs "Decreto DNU". DNUs and delegated decrees end with "Dese cuenta a la Comisión Bicameral Permanente".

5. Are Bases Law delegated powers still available to the Executive? No. The delegation lasted one year from the law's entry into force on 9 July 2024 (Law 27.742 arts. 1 and 237), so it expired in early July 2025 (unconfirmed). Decrees validly issued during the term remain in force (Constitution art. 76) unless both chambers rejected them, as happened to four delegated decrees in August 2025.

6. Does an international treaty protect my investment against a later Argentine law? Treaties approved by Congress rank above laws (art. 75(22)). A bilateral investment treaty therefore prevails over an inconsistent later national law, and over provincial law (art. 31). How tribunals and courts apply that rule in a dispute is covered on the bilateral treaties and ICSID page.

7. Why does my provincial tax bill matter so much? Provinces keep all undelegated powers (art. 121), levy their own taxes and receive a statutory share of national taxes under Law 23.548 that does not track population (Example 2). They are also bound not to levy taxes analogous to shared national taxes (Law 23.548 art. 9(b)), which is a defence against duplicate levies.

8. Are court decisions binding precedent? Argentina is a civil law system: the CCyC directs judges to decide under applicable laws, the Constitution and human rights treaties (CCyC art. 1). No source reviewed makes precedents formally binding, though Supreme Court rulings carry heavy weight in practice (unconfirmed).

9. When does a new ARCA resolution apply to me? On the date it sets, usually its publication in the Boletín Oficial; if none is set, after the eighth day from publication (CCyC art. 5; Law 19.549 art. 11). Check also any separate "application" date and read the RG it amends. Example 3 shows an RG that moved the filing date but not the payment date.

10. How many votes does the government need to block a veto override or a DNU rejection? A veto override needs two thirds in each chamber (art. 83), so one third plus one in either chamber sustains a veto (86 deputies or 25 senators if all members vote (unconfirmed)). A DNU rejection needs an absolute majority of members present in each chamber (Law 26.122 art. 23), so controlling either chamber is enough to keep a DNU alive.

11. Is the Supreme Court fully staffed? By law it has five judges (Law 26.183). Two seats were vacant from 29 December 2024 (Decree 137/2025, recitals), two judges were appointed in commission in February 2025 and one resigned in April 2025 (Decree 276/2025). The composition on the date of this page is not confirmed (unconfirmed).

12. Where is the official text of a norm? The Boletín Oficial (boletinoficial.gob.ar) is the official publication. Infoleg and argentina.gob.ar/normativa reproduce original and updated texts with amendment notes. Agency libraries such as biblioteca.arca.gob.ar give status and amendment links for their own resolutions.

Primary sources

• Constitution of the Argentine Nation, official text ordered by Law 24.430. Infoleg
• Law 26.122, decree control regime. Text
• Congressional resolutions under Law 26.122, Infoleg records: Deputies Res. 76/2024
• DNU 70/2023, original text with Infoleg notes, argentina.gob.ar/normativa
• Law 27.742 (Bases Law), Infoleg updated text
• Law 26.994 approving the Civil and Commercial Code, original text and updated text
• Law 23.548, tax sharing, Infoleg updated text
• Law 26.183, Supreme Court composition
• Decree 137/2025, Supreme Court appointments in commission
• Decree 276/2025, acceptance of resignation
• Decree 953/2024, dissolution of AFIP and creation of ARCA
• Law 22.847, number of deputies
• Law 24.937, Council of the Magistracy, Infoleg search record (BO 6 January 1998)
• National Electoral Directorate, "Convocatoria a elecciones legislativas nacionales 2025" (21 May 2025)
• National Electoral Directorate, "Elecciones Legislativas 2025: el proceso electoral, en números" (10 February 2026)
• argentina.gob.ar, "Cargos a elegir 2019" (130 deputies, 24 senators)
• ARCA General Resolution 5911/2026, ARCA electronic library
• Law 11.683, tax procedure
• Ministry of Economy Res. 823/2025 amending Res. 3/2024 (interest rates)

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