To activate the Commission for the Analysis and Monitoring of Compliance with Tax and Social Security Regulations, which since its creation in Deputies registered practically no activity, legislators and experts on the subject met to put the magnifying glass on one of the problems of the economy Argentina: tax evasion.
Argentina is on the podium of tax evasion worldwide according to a UN report published in the middle of last year, only behind Malta, Guyana and Chad; In turn, and according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in 2022 a tax evasion rate of 49.9%. In this context, a seminar was held in Deputies in which eight specialists in tax and fiscal matters participated to analyze the reasons, causes and magnitude of tax evasion in the country.
Deputies debate tax evasion: the conclusions
Thus, throughout the different presentations of the seminar that was held at the Commission for Analysis and Monitoring of Compliance with Tax and Social Security Regulations, chaired by the radical deputy Martín Tetazthree central problems were identified regarding the causes of tax evasion in Argentina, “one part has to do with the administration of AFIP itself, which needs greater infrastructure and investment; the second point has to do with the fact that the regulations from the From a tax point of view, they have to be simpler; and the third problem is the issue of informality”, explained the representative Tetaz to iProfessional.
“The AFIP has more powers than any other tax administration in Latin AmericaThat is to say, it has a lot of powers, both in terms of its abilities to be intimate, to handle people’s data, to make withholdings, etc.; so one of the focuses in the Seminar was placed on the multiplicity of AFIP systems and on the lack of incentives and little investment that it had in improving those systems “; he described.
And he added: “There is very little infrastructure in the AFIP, one for the monotribute, another for earnings, another for customs, but in many of these systems, which are all separate, they were created more than 20 years ago and that, obviously, It gives AFIP a great disadvantage compared to large companies that use technology and even artificial intelligence to make business decisions. how to pay taxes or how to avoid them“.
On the other hand, regarding the simplification of tax regulations, he considered that Argentina has “a lot of taxes”, which in the opinion of the Evolución Radical legislator makes compliance difficult, that is, the system is so complex that it seems to be made so that people evade taxes.
For Martín Tetaz, informality and the powers that AFIP has are factors that influence evasion.
Informality and VAT, keys in tax evasion
“Argentina has a lot of taxes and that makes compliance difficult, it also has a lot of exemptions, different preferential treatments and so there is a lot of fiscal spending. If the system were simpler and had directly, for example, a VAT of 18% or 15% instead of 21%would collect more than the system with a VAT of 21% but with 300 holes everywhere,” said Tetaz about possible tax solutions that would prevent evasion.
On the other hand, and with regard to the monotribute scheme, the economist and national deputy considered that said system “It greatly favors informality”which is a “huge problem” registered by economic activity in Argentina.
“It is not only the decision of a business sector not to launder any transaction, which obviously occurs, but the problem of tax evasion in Argentina is entire sectors living in the informal sector, and in particular, the problem of informality in the Ministry of Labor that drags informality forward, because the company that hires in black later is forced to invoice in black also to be able to have the numbers in order; In other words, informality in the employment sector in Argentina is a determining factor for low forward tax compliance,” the national legislator considered.
The specialists who participated in the seminar were Dr. Carlos M. Folco, Lawyer and Federal Judge in Economic Criminal Matters No. 1 and the public accountant and political analyst Carlos de los Santos; the latter proposed the implementation of “The digital Argentine peso” to end evasionmaintaining that it is a tool that would allow “promoting a balanced State, eliminating emissions, without adjustments and less taxes.”
The Argentine consultant at risk, Santiago Montoya, the engineer Leandro Cuccioli, who has a Master’s in business administration, Dr. Darío Rajmilovich, a public accountant and tax specialist, Aldo Rubén Maggiolo, a specialist in bankruptcy receivership and Dr. Julián also spoke. Sadosfchi, president of the Mendoza CPCE.
Commission in Deputies, without activity
The Commission for Analysis and Monitoring of Compliance with Tax and Social Security Regulations in the Chamber of Deputies is chaired by the legislator from Evolución Radical, Martín Tetaz, who admits that it has almost no activity and suggested that this paralysis may be the cause of that said commission is not led by legislators from the ruling party.
Argentina is on the podium of the countries with the highest tax evasion, according to the UN.
“The truth is that in a mysterious way the Commission has not received any draft in all of last year and so far this year, which has two possibilities: either there are no projects that have to do with issues related to tax evasion, or from the presidency of the Chamber, by the way, since it is not a friendly commission, it dodge the commission and they don’t give money orders”, described the deputy, who added that in many cases they have asked for the commission money transfer in projects such as the Budget or money laundering “but we were always told no,” he said.
