Tax Relief on the Check Tax for Crypto, Fintech, and Other Payment Operators

Tax Relief on the Check Tax for Crypto, Fintech, and Other Payment Operators

Decree 475/2026

Through Decree 475/2026 (Official Gazette 06/18/2026), the national government expanded the exemptions under the Tax on Credits and Debits in Bank Accounts (“Check Tax”), applicable primarily to the Fintech and crypto sectors. The measure does not eliminate the tax generally, but it does broaden certain exemptions applicable to digital economy operators, virtual asset service providers, payment and collection companies, card systems, and cash-in-transit companies.

The most visible change involves the treatment of Virtual Asset Service Providers (known as VASPs, or “PSAV” in Spanish). Under the decree, accounts used exclusively for transactions inherent to their specific activities are now covered by the exemption, provided these entities are registered with the Virtual Asset Service Provider Registry of the National Securities Commission (CNV). In addition, these accounts must be registered under the regime established by AFIP General Resolution 3900, or any rule that replaces it in the future.

The central point is that the benefit does not extend to any crypto-related movement or to any bank account held by a VASP. The rule requires exclusive use, registration of the entity with the CNV, and registration of the affected accounts with ARCA.

The measure also changes the treatment of companies engaged in electronic payment and collection services on behalf of third parties. The exemption is extended to accounts used exclusively in the course of these companies’ activity, expressly including account movements that enable the delivery or deposit of cash into bank or payment accounts. It also extends the benefit to accounts used by their official agents, provided they use exclusive accounts for those operations, as well as to those acting as complementary financial services agencies.

Another important aspect is the inclusion of specific benefits for companies operating credit, debit, and charge card systems. In this case, the exemption covers certain debits arising from bank loans intended to finance their activity, as well as credits and debits derived from the issuance and cancellation of corporate bonds (obligaciones negociables) issued for that same purpose.

A waiver is also included for accounts used exclusively by cash-in-transit companies to remit collected cash to their account holders, provided they are registered with the registry maintained by the Central Bank (BCRA).

In addition, the exemption is broadened to cover accounts used exclusively by entities that move third-party funds to carry out payment transactions for goods or services intended for end consumers, provided they are registered in the corresponding registry. This expansion of covered parties extends to actors who are not directly payment companies but who operate within the same ecosystem, moving third-party funds.

Finally, the decree expressly repeals the general restriction set out in the second-to-last paragraph of Article 10 of the Annex to Decree No. 380/01 relating to virtual assets.

It is worth recalling that this paragraph, added in 2021, provided that the exemptions under that article did not apply when fund movements were related to the acquisition, sale, exchange, intermediation, or any other transaction involving crypto-assets, cryptocurrencies, digital currencies, or similar instruments. In this way, the prior regulation established a sort of objective exclusion from the tax benefit for movements associated with virtual assets. This meant that even when a taxpayer or responsible party otherwise fell, in principle, within one of the exempt categories under Article 10, the connection of the funds to crypto transactions rendered the exemption inapplicable.

The background to these changes is the need to adapt the tax regime to business models that did not exist — or did not operate at the same scale — when many of the rules governing this tax were originally designed.

From a tax perspective, the change is significant because it reduces a burden that could generate cost accumulation in transactions where funds are moved on behalf of and for the account of third parties, or where the intermediary is not the ultimate economic beneficiary of the funds. In sectors with high transactional turnover, the Check Tax can have a significant impact on margins, pricing, and competitiveness, especially when applied to movements that serve an operational intermediation function.

Decree 475/2026 represents a step toward greater fiscal neutrality among traditional financial players, fintechs, and virtual asset operators. However, the decree should not be read as a comprehensive tax exemption for the crypto ecosystem as a whole. The exemption applies to specific accounts and transactions, subject to concrete formal and operational conditions.