It was in the cold August last year when the then Chancellor Diana Mondino had to face an unexpected political storm. Dozens of diplomats then began a strike on Esmeralda Street and in front of the San Martín Palace, accompanied by other protest measures, angered by Decree 652/24 signed by the President. Javier Milei and his economics minister, Luis “Toto” Caputowhich levied income tax on ambassadors and high- and mid-level officials on the dollar bonuses they received for their services outside the country.
The war against the “diplomatic caste” declared by the president at the time went through various phases until the judiciary ruled in favor of the Apsen diplomatic union days ago. The union submitted one together with the state union ATE protective measurewhich was submitted to the disputed Administrative Court 11, against the application of this tax, in force since 1979, to the surcharge, so-called additional living expenses.
According to various representatives of the diplomatic corps, the application of the tax was unconstitutional and left diplomats abroad unable to cover ongoing expenses such as food, rent, prepaid medication or paying school fees for their children, if they had any. They argued that they already pay their salaries in pesos and stressed that the addition was based on a United Nations index. Many of them thought about applying to return to the country in the event of an extension of the 25 percent cut in additional costs.
The federal judge Martin Cormickdeclared in its judgment last week the “nullity” of the articles of the decree that established the discount, which was in full force for three months, until a precautionary measure imposed by the same judge at the request of the plaintiffs came into force. Cormick also directed the executive to “refund to all employees reached by this group the amounts withheld as income tax on the additional ‘living expenses,’ as each amount was withheld plus interest” accrued during those months.
The government, which during the court case ignored the authority of Apsen and ATE to assert the claim and fought hard for the application of the tax, announced that it will appeal the court decision through ARCA in the coming days.
Satisfied with the verdict, which also included legal advice from the constitutional lawyer Ricardo Gil Lavedra and the tributary Alberto TarsitanoFrom Apsen, they explained to this newspaper that “this decision of the executive was unlawful and arbitrary, since it had no legal basis in the Income Tax Law that regulates it.” In addition, the reduction “violated the rights established in Article 19 and in paragraphs a) and e) of Article 22 of Law 20,957 (“Regime of the Foreign Service of the Nation”), since it violated the “diplomatic status” established by federal law.
“It’s a non-linear salary, but absolutely legal. Diplomats earn a lot, but we also spend a lot outside the country,” he said THE NATION the former ambassador to the United Nations Ricardo Lagorioone of those affected by the cut and signatories of a letter to Mondino in which they unsuccessfully tried to get him to review the decision.
“Measures such as those introduced by this new regulation have a significant impact on the normal functioning of the service and make it more difficult to fill vacancies in missions abroad,” said the letter to Mondino, signed at the time by figures such as the former chancellor. Jorge Faurietoday ambassador to Chile; Conrado Solari Yrigoyen (former ambassador to Denmark), Marcelo Suarez Salvia (current ambassador to China), Rafael Grossi (Head of the Atomic Energy Agency and now the government’s candidate for Secretary-General of the United Nations), Martin García Moritan (then Ambassador to Uruguay), the former President of the UN Human Rights Council Federico Villegas and the former Argentine ambassador to Russia during the government of Alberto Fernández, Eduardo Zuain.
The court decision fully affects the 550 diplomats, 150 foreign service personnel, 60 military attachés and other officials who carry out duties abroad. With the government’s likely appeal, the fight promises new chapters.
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