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Practical manual for Income Tax 2020.

14. Operations carried out in the futures and options markets

Regulations: Art. 37. 1. m) Law Income Tax

Income obtained from transactions carried out in futures and options markets is considered capital gains or losses provided that they are carried out for speculative purposes and not for the purpose of covering risks of an economic activity carried out by the taxpayer, in which case they will be taxed as income from said activities.

Capital gains or losses obtained as a result of the aforementioned speculative operations must be attributed to the tax period in which the liquidation of the position or the termination of the contract takes place.

According to the National Securities Market Commission

  • A future is a contract by which the exchange of a specific amount of underlying asset (securities, indices, agricultural products, raw materials, etc.) is agreed on a predetermined future date, at a price agreed in advance.

  • An option is a contract that entails a right for the buyer and an obligation for the seller to buy (or sell) a certain amount of the underlying asset within a stipulated period of time at a price agreed in advance (strike price).

    The option price is what the buyer pays to obtain that right and is called the "premium." When the expiration date arrives, the buyer will be interested or not in exercising it depending on the difference between the price set for the transaction and the price that the underlying asset has at that time in the cash market.