On Monday, the Argentine government released the regulations pertaining to the Incentive Program for Medium-Sized Investments (RIMI, as per its Spanish initials) in the Official Gazette. The program aims to stimulate productive investments in micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, focusing on goods, construction projects, and assets that are directly tied to productive activities. RIMI seeks to function as a scaled-down iteration of the RIGI (Large Investment Incentive Regime, by its Spanish acronym), which, as noted by Economy Minister Luis Caputo, has successfully drawn in investments surpassing US$200 million across over 35 projects.
To be eligible for RIMI, investments are required to begin at US$150,000 for micro-enterprises, US$600,000 for small businesses, US$3.5 million for tier-1 medium-sized businesses (as defined by criteria including total annual sales, employee count, and total assets), and US$9 million for tier-2 medium-sized businesses. Firms will have a period of up to two years to finalize these investments, after which they will qualify for a two-year accelerated amortization regime concerning program-covered assets for income tax considerations. Eligibility for the RIMI requires that companies are registered as Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MIPyMES, in Spanish) with Argentina’s tax collection agency ARCA. The program will be accessible to both domestic and foreign investors.
The decree delineates the parameters of a productive investment, specifying “new depreciable movable assets”—excluding automobiles—that fall under the categories of Capital Assets or Information Technology and Telecommunications Assets. The scope of investments encompasses agricultural irrigation systems, anti-hail nets, and depreciable livestock, which are characterized as breeding animals possessing “superior genetics, purebred, or certified purebred” status.
In the context of construction projects, it is essential that eligible investments are directly tied to the activities of the beneficiary and that they exhibit a “degree of completion of less than 30% of the total investment amount.” Lastly, the program encompasses goods characterized by “high energy efficiency,” including investments aimed at “generating, storing, and/or transmitting electrical energy utilizing renewable energy sources across the national territory” or “the optimization, recovery, or reduction of energy consumption within production facilities.”