In short
- Over 50 terms organized into 4 categories: tax, labor, corporate, and accounting.
- Explained in plain English, without the jargon that makes something already complicated even harder.
- Use the shortcuts below to jump straight to the category you need.
Taxes and ARCA/AFIP
Tax terms
- Alícuota
- The rate applied to the tax base to calculate how much tax is owed. Every tax, and every category within it, has its own.
- Anticipo (advance payment)
- A payment on account of a tax that hasn't been finally assessed yet, calculated on what was paid the prior year. Used for income tax and Personal Assets Tax.
- ARCA (formerly AFIP)
- The Revenue Collection and Customs Control Agency. Argentina's federal authority that collects taxes, oversees foreign trade, and administers Monotributo, income tax, VAT, and other national taxes.
- Base imponible (tax base)
- The amount a tax is calculated on, after applying any deductions or exemptions that apply. It isn't the same as total revenue.
- Certificado de no retención (non-withholding certificate)
- A document exempting its holder from having a tax withheld on each payment received, usually because they're already current or hold a credit balance.
- Clave Fiscal
- The password used to operate on ARCA's website: filing returns, generating receipts, authorizing an accountant to represent the company.
- Constancia de inscripción (registration certificate)
- The document certifying which taxes a person or company is registered for, and under which category. Often requested as backup in procedures and contracts.
- Convenio Multilateral
- The agreement among Argentina's provinces defining how gross-receipts tax (Ingresos Brutos) is split when a company bills in more than one jurisdiction, so the tax isn't paid twice.
- CUIT
- Clave Única de Identificación Tributaria — the number that identifies every person or company before ARCA. Argentina's equivalent of a tax ID.
- DDJJ (Declaración Jurada / sworn return)
- The form on which a taxpayer reports income, expenses, or the tax owed for a given period to ARCA.
- Domicilio fiscal electrónico
- The inbox within ARCA's website where the agency sends notices, requests, and updates. Worth checking often.
- Exención impositiva (tax exemption)
- A benefit that fully or partially frees an activity, product, or taxpayer from paying a given tax.
- Factura electrónica (A, B, C, E)
- The electronic sales invoice. The letter depends on the VAT status of both issuer and recipient: A between Responsables Inscriptos, B to end consumers, C from Monotributo, E for exports.
- Ganancias (Income Tax)
- Argentina's national tax on the net income of individuals and companies over the year. Paid by both companies and individuals whose income exceeds the tax-free threshold.
- Ingresos Brutos (IIBB / gross-receipts tax)
- The provincial (or City of Buenos Aires) tax on regularly carrying out an economic activity, calculated on revenue.
- IVA (VAT)
- Value Added Tax — a national tax charged at each stage a product or service is sold; VAT charged is offset against VAT paid on purchases.
- Mínimo no imponible (tax-free threshold)
- The amount up to which a person doesn't pay a given tax (for example, income tax or Personal Assets Tax). Updated periodically.
- Monotributo
- Simplified regime that replaces several taxes with a single fixed monthly fee, based on a billing category. View the current category table →
- Moratoria (debt-relief program)
- A special, time-limited program to regularize overdue tax debt, usually with a reduction of interest or punitive charges.
- Nota de crédito / débito (credit / debit note)
- Receipts that correct an invoice already issued: a credit note reduces it (a refund, for example), a debit note increases it.
- Padrón (taxpayer registry)
- The list ARCA publishes showing each CUIT's tax status, used by other taxpayers to determine what withholding or collection rate applies.
- Percepción (tax collection at source)
- An advance of tax collected by the seller or service provider at the time of the transaction, added to the price — rather than being reported later by the buyer.
- Plan de facilidades de pago (payment plan)
- A scheme to pay off a tax debt in installments, carrying a financing rate, that keeps the debt from continuing to accrue punitive interest.
- Recategorización (recategorization)
- The semiannual process (January and July) in which a Monotributo taxpayer updates their category based on billing, energy use, or rent paid over the prior twelve months.
- Responsable Inscripto
- The status of a taxpayer who charges VAT separately and files income tax on their own, with no billing cap — unlike Monotributo, which is capped. See when it makes sense to switch →
- Retención (withholding)
- An advance of tax withheld by the payer (not the recipient), which can later be credited against the final tax owed.
- SICORE
- The regime for reporting and paying withholdings and collections made, filed monthly with ARCA.
Payroll and employment
Labor terms
- ANSES
- Argentina's National Social Security Administration. The agency managing pensions, family allowances, and other social-security benefits.
- Aportes y contribuciones (contributions)
- Aportes are deducted by the employer from the employee's pay (pension, health coverage); contribuciones are paid by the employer on top of gross pay.
- ART (workers' comp insurer)
- Aseguradora de Riesgos del Trabajo — the mandatory coverage an employer contracts for workplace accidents and occupational illness.
- Cargas sociales (payroll contributions)
- The full set of employment-related contributions: pension, health coverage, workers' comp, mandatory life insurance, and more.
- Convenio Colectivo de Trabajo (CCT / collective bargaining agreement)
- The agreement between a union and an employers' association setting minimum pay, job categories, and working conditions for a specific activity.
- Indemnización por despido (severance pay)
- The payment owed to an employee dismissed without cause, calculated based on tenure and their best monthly pay.
- LCT
- Ley de Contrato de Trabajo — Argentina's general employment law, unless a CCT sets more favorable conditions.
- Libro de sueldos digital (digital payroll ledger)
- The mandatory online record where an employer documents each employee's pay calculation, replacing the old physical ledger.
- Obra social
- The health coverage every employee under a formal employment relationship is entitled to, funded by their own contributions plus the employer's.
- Período de prueba (probationary period)
- The first three months of an open-ended employment contract, during which either party can end it without severance.
- Preaviso (notice period)
- The advance notice an employer must give before dismissing (or, to a lesser extent, an employee resigning), or the payment in lieu if notice isn't given.
- Recibo de sueldo (pay slip)
- The monthly document detailing gross pay, deductions, and net pay. Mandatory, and must be signed.
- SAC (aguinaldo / 13th-month pay)
- Sueldo Anual Complementario — an extra paycheck split into two installments (June and December), equal to half the best pay of the semester.
- SRT
- Superintendencia de Riesgos del Trabajo — the agency that oversees ART insurers and enforces workplace health-and-safety rules.
Companies and entities
Corporate terms
- Acta de asamblea (meeting minutes)
- The document recording decisions made by a company's shareholders or partners at a formal meeting, often required by regulators and banks.
- Capital social (share capital)
- The amount partners contribute when forming a company, backing the company's obligations to third parties.
- Certificado PyME
- The registration that classifies a company as micro, small, or medium based on revenue, unlocking tax and financing benefits.
- Contrato / Estatuto social (bylaws)
- A company's founding document: defines its purpose, capital, management structure, and the internal rules among partners.
- IGJ
- Inspección General de Justicia — the agency that registers, oversees, and audits companies and nonprofit associations in the City of Buenos Aires.
- Objeto social (corporate purpose)
- The description of the activities a company will engage in, set out in its bylaws when it's formed.
- Persona humana / jurídica (individual / legal entity)
- Persona humana is an individual; persona jurídica is an entity with its own legal rights, such as an SRL or an SA.
- SA
- Sociedad Anónima — a corporate form where capital is divided into shares and shareholder liability is limited to their contribution, typical of larger companies.
- SAS
- Sociedad por Acciones Simplificada — a streamlined entity type that can be formed 100% online in a few days, designed for startups and SMEs.
- Socio gerente / Directorio (managing partner / board)
- Whoever administers and legally represents the company: a managing partner in an SRL, a board (with its chair) in an SA.
- SRL
- Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada — a corporate form where capital is divided into units and partners are liable only up to what they contributed.
Records and financial statements
Accounting terms
- Activo / Pasivo / Patrimonio Neto (assets / liabilities / equity)
- Assets are what the company owns; liabilities are what it owes; equity is the difference between the two — what actually belongs to the owners.
- Amortización (depreciation)
- Spreading the cost of a fixed asset (a machine, a vehicle) over the years it's used, rather than expensing it all at once.
- Auditoría (audit)
- An independent review of a company's financial statements to verify they reasonably reflect its financial position.
- Balance general (balance sheet)
- The financial statement showing, as of a given date, a company's assets, liabilities, and equity — a snapshot of its financial position.
- Certificación contable (accountant's certification)
- A document in which a public accountant certifies specific facts or figures (income, net worth) for presentation to a bank, agency, or third party.
- Conciliación bancaria (bank reconciliation)
- The process of comparing accounting records against the bank statement to catch differences or errors.
- Costo fijo / Costo variable (fixed / variable cost)
- A fixed cost doesn't change with sales volume (rent, for example); a variable cost does (raw materials used per unit sold).
- Estado de resultados (income statement)
- The financial statement showing a company's revenue, costs, and profit or loss over a given period — not a single point in time, but across it.
- Estados contables (financial statements)
- The set of reports (balance sheet, income statement, and notes) reflecting a company's financial position, presented at least annually.
- Flujo de fondos (cash flow)
- The record of a company's actual cash inflows and outflows, showing whether there's enough cash on hand to cover payments — distinct from accounting profit.
- Libro Diario / Libro Mayor (journal / general ledger)
- The journal records every company transaction chronologically; the ledger groups those transactions by account (cash, sales, vendors, etc.).
- Punto de equilibrio (break-even point)
- The sales level at which a company stops losing money and starts making a profit — where revenue equals total costs.
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