The Electronic Compensation Book (hereinafter, “LRE”) was created by means of Opinion 877/006 of March 10^th, 2021, in which replaces the obligation to physically keep the compensation book in an electronic format from March 2021. Now, this replacement was voluntary until the entry into force of Law 21,327 on Modernization of the Labor Directorate on October 1^st, 2021 (hereinafter “LMDT”)

The obligation to carry the LRE (set as of October 2021), is subject to the entry into force of the aforementioned law, since it incorporated article 515 to the Labor Code, which establishes the obligation of the employers to register on the electronic site of the Labor Directorate (hereinafter, “DT”) the data and documents that are determined by regulations for that purpose.

The entry into force of the LMDT was established on October 28^th, 2021, with the supreme Decree number 37 of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare published in the official Gazette corresponding to the Regulation instructed by the new article 515 of the Labor Code. Said decree, in its letter D of article 3, indicates as the employer’s duty to register the LRE in the electronic labor registry established by the DT monthly, being equivalent to the provisions of article 62 of the Labor Code, this is equivalent when carrying the Auxiliary Remuneration Book.

To give instructions on this new obligation, the DT issued Opinion 2588/051 this past Thursday, November 11^th, 2021. This indicates the legal obligation of those employers who at some point in the business year had five or more workers simultaneously; these must register the monthly LRE for the same year and those to come as an irrevocable obligation.

Main considerations for compliance

1. Declaration period: until the 15^th day of the following month the effective payment of the remunerations to be reported. In the event that the day falls on Saturday, Sunday or a holiday the term will run to the next business day. In the case of the remunerations of October 2021 (starting month of the obligation) the term was until November 15^th, however, for the remuneration of December 2021 the deadline will be until January 17^th.
2. The registration instructions are those already established in Opinion 877/0066 from past March, as well as those contained in the supplement prepared for this purpose. See the article with this information here.
3. As the LRE is an accounting book, the IRS is responsible to instruct its preparation and maintenance in accordance with article 17 of the Tax Code. With Exempt Resolution number 29 of 2021, the IRS authorized taxpayers to keep this accounting book electronically and the DT will be the institution in charge to emit the instructions for its compliance.

Additionally, the obligation to report the entire year 2021 arises, for those who contract the obligation as of October 2021, for which the DT established as a deadline to declare the months from January to September 2021 until February 15^th, 2021. At turn, the voluntary period started in March 2021 and the obligation to declare the year 2020, if the LRE was entered in 2021, is abolished.