Government insists that the RUC appears in digital advertising: what are the reasons?

In February 2022, Legislative Decree 1524 was published, which modified the law of the single taxpayer registry, so that companies and influencers place the RUC number and company name in digital advertising. The objective of the measure is to improve the identification of those whose situation or activity must be subject to the control of the National Superintendence of Customs and Tax Administration (Sunat), so that the entity collects the corresponding taxes.

The rule came into effect in July 2023 and failure to comply with the provisions entails the payment of a fine. For example, for those who had third category income, the fine will be 30% of the UIT (set at S/5,150 for 2024), while for individuals with fourth category income or people and entities covered by the special income, the fine will be 15% of the UIT.

Weeks before this adjustment came into effect, various specialists questioned whether this imposition was given without further details. There was a doubt whether the RUC should also appear on the printed flyers and banners. Also, how should it be placed in an Instagram post? In the text of the post, in the photo, in both? The more the days passed, the more doubts there were. Days before July 1, Sunat published a resolution stating that it would not sanction those who fail to comply, beginning a white march of the norm until the end of the year.

In such a way that from January 1, 2024 the measure is in force and users can be sanctioned. Although Congress approved bill 5434, by Adriana Tudela (Avanza País), to repeal DL 1524. The document was sent to the Executive Branch, as appropriate, and was observed on Thursday, January 11.

What is the basis of bill 5434?

Bill 5434 specifies that placing this information (RUC and company name), which is mostly unrelated to the brand, violates the main objective of advertising the main characteristics of the company, which would affect its reputation. one of the most important assets. Besides, Their freedom of business would be violated.

They observe an autograph to cancel the placement of the RUC in digital advertising: here are the reasons

Firstly, the Executive Branch points out that the requirement to advertise the RUC number implicitly entails requiring registration in the RUC for those who should be registered but do not comply with it. Besides, The single taxpayer registration law had to be updated because now users conduct business through digital platforms and mostly what is advertised is the cell phone number, which is not a sufficient identifier for Sunat.

In this way, DL 1524 sought to update the current norm, as done by countries like Spain, which for many years has required that its VAT number be advertised. They add that regarding the violation of business freedom that Tudela refers to, there is no support for said statement. On the contrary, if the R.U.C.that may mean that the company is informal, which constitutes unfair competition, since other companies in the sector do comply with their obligations.

The document warns that the Tudela measure does not contemplate any provision that repeals or modifies the rules of the Tax Code that classify non-compliance with such obligation as an infraction. In such a way that, by insisting on the measure as it is written, users could continue to be fined.

On the other hand, in order not to alter business advertising, as the congresswoman points out, the executive proposes the following wording of the text: “Consignment in any visible place on digital platforms, such as web pages, mobile applications, social networks, among other electronic means, through which goods and/or services are offered, marketed and/or provided for consideration.”

In this way, the autograph has returned to the Congressional Economic Commission for evaluation. The Legislature could adopt the Executive’s changes or insist on its proposal, which would finally repeal DL 1524.