In brief
Through General Resolution ARCA No. 5900/2026 (Official Gazette 09/24/2026), General Resolutions No. 2,721 and No. 3,069 were amended, easing the rules on the retention, digitization and destruction of the customs documentation that the filer must keep in its capacity as custodian of record (depositario fiel).
The reform does not change the retention period, which continues to run until the statute of limitations on the Tax Authority’s action expires. What changes is what happens afterwards: once that period has elapsed, the documentation may be destroyed without prior authorization, notice or the presence of inspectors.
In focus
As stated in its recitals, the resolution responds to the principles of administrative efficiency and simplification set out in Decree of Necessity and Urgency No. 70/2023, after it was found that the existing procedures imposed an operational and economic burden on both filers and the Agency itself. Accordingly, it provides that:
- Retention period: it remains in force until the statute of limitations on the Tax Authority’s action expires with respect to the relevant customs procedure or transaction, whether under self-archiving or through an Archiving and Digitization Service Provider (PSAD).
- Destruction: once that period has elapsed, the filer may freely dispose of the documentation and destroy it at its sole responsibility, without prior authorization, notice or the presence of inspectors.
- Exception: documentation relating to ongoing administrative or judicial proceedings must be retained until such proceedings are concluded.
- Transactions prior to 3 August 2009: those whose files are held by the Agency continue to be governed by Ruling No. 455/98 (AFIP).
- Self-archiving: the applicable physical, environmental and technological conditions are updated, and a new suspension and reinstatement procedure is approved for operating under this modality.
As a result, General Resolutions No. 2,864, 4,476, 4,654 and 5,043 — which governed the final disposition, deallocation and destruction of customs documentation — are repealed.
Supplementary procedural guidelines and the implementation schedule will be available on the “Depositario Fiel” microsite of ARCA’s website.
Effective date
- General Resolution ARCA No. 5900/2026 came into force on 24 September 2026, the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
- Its provisions will be implemented in accordance with the schedule to be made available on the “Depositario Fiel” microsite of ARCA’s website.
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Victoria Acevedo Freixas, Associate, has contributed to this legal update.
Download the Spanish version of Argentina: ARCA Streamlines Customs Documentation Retention and Destruction