As reported on several specialized websites in Argentina, as of April, Buenos Aires Provice’s  Government announced that a new tax will be charged on streaming platforms monthly subscription, which will mean a 2% increase on Netflix and Spotify bills, and other OTTs that will be affected by the measure. The new tax is based on collection of Gross Income for services offered by companies based, in this case, outside Argentina.

According to the information reported by the specialized website Infobae, the new tax collection should have started to be implemented in the Buenos Aires Province originally on January 1st, 2020. However, the measure was put off indefinitely due to the advance of the Coronavirus pandemic, until, finally, the measure will be officially applied from next month. At present, the tax is being applied in the Buenos Aires City, as well as in other provinces of Argentina, such as Cordoba, Salta, San Juan, Mendoza, Tucuman, Jujuy, Rio Negro and La Pampa.

The new tax will be collected from April through credit cards. The initiative is added to other taxes that are now being charged to foreign digital platforms in Argentina, such as the Value Added Tax (VAT – 21%); Impuesto Pais (8%); advance of Impuesto a las Ganancias (35%) and Impuesto de Sellos (1.2%). Also, in most cases, banks through which the payment is made add the taxes to the net amount of the membership (it appears as a separate charge on the account or card statement).

The new tax measure comes after, in February, Netflix increased the subscription of its Basic, Standard and Premium plans in Argentina. As reported by Infobae and other specialized websites in the country, apart from Netflix and Spotify, other platforms affected by the measure will be Itunes, YouTube, advertising services on social networks, and others.