Compre Neuquino: the exact score needed to certify

Ley 3338 creates the preference regime but leaves the bar blank: it says there is a «Neuquén value chain coefficient» and two tiers, A and B, without saying where each one starts. This regulation sets the number. The minimum to certify is 65 points out of 100: tier B from 65 to 79 points, tier A from 80 to 100 (regulation of art. 10, subsection a). Below 65 there is no certificate, and without a certificate there is no access to the 60% that art. 15 of the law reserves. And there are two disqualifiers that do not depend on the total: scoring zero in «Company regime» or zero in «Local employment» rules you out even if the rest adds up — they are two necessary conditions, not two addends. The score is split across five variables: Company regime, 30 points (the ratio of the turnover tax base in Neuquén to the nationwide tax base, averaged over the last 3 sworn statements; under a multilateral agreement with headquarters in Neuquén it starts from 15 points and can reach 30 depending on the ratio (the regulation does not publish the intermediate steps for this case), and if headquarters are in another jurisdiction the cap is 15: 0 points up to 0.39 (which rules you out), 7.5 between 0.40 and 0.49 and 15 above 0.50; a direct taxpayer takes all 30); Local employment, 30 points (the share of the F931 payroll actually resident in the province, in steps: 4.3 points at 10-19%, 8.6 at 20-39%, 12.9 at 40-49%, 17.2 at 50-59%, 21.5 at 60-69%, 25.8 at 70-79% and the full 30 above 80%); Shareholding or share capital, 20 points (capital held by owners resident in the province: 5 points at 10-39%, 10 at 40-50%, 20 above 51%); Location of premises, 10 points (principal place of business 5, registered address 2.5, tax address 2.5, with addresses evidenced by a year or more of residence in the province); and Bases and offices, 10 points (the share of the company's bases or offices in the country that are in Neuquén: 2.5 points at 20-39%, 5 at 40-59%, 10 above 60%). The regulation also opens two exits for firms that do not fit the mold: a firm that needs no direct staff may declare the local-employment requirement «not applicable», and one that needs no bases or offices may do the same for that variable, in both cases by sworn statement and subject to a ruling by the enforcement authority. On the obligated party's side, the regulation of art. 15 spells out how the 60% is computed: the authority measures it contract by contract against what is reported on the Neuquén Value Chain Platform, allows justified urgency or emergency cases to be discounted along with those where a certified supplier was invited and the award still went to another, and requires anyone who falls short to submit a plan with objectives and targets to raise participation year on year, which the authority reviews and approves. And the regulation of art. 14 gives shape to the right to match: the obligated party must formally notify the supplier that it is covered by the benefit, and the supplier must reply within a reasonable period whether it will match, and may be required to give a technical, economic and financial justification of how it will do so without cutting the services offered. verif · Dec 14, 2022 ↗

Article 2 of the decree provides that it takes effect from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. It was published in the Official Gazette of Neuquén No. 4110 of 12/22/2022; the date of the rule is 12/14/2022. verif · Dec 22, 2022 ↗

Any SME or independent professional wanting to sell to the oil, gas or mining industry in Neuquén: the regulation is what tells them, before spending a peso on the process, whether their structure reaches 65 points or not. And the covered buyers — holders, permit holders and concession holders of areas and mines, plus services, engineering and construction companies classified as large enterprises — who must evidence the 60% by category and submit an improvement plan if they fall short. verif · Dec 14, 2022 ↗