Known the News that finally tomorrow the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, will sign the agreement of automatic exchange of financial information between Argentina and the United States, different tax experts celebrated the progress that it implies, but downplayed the effects in the short term, since The tool would not allow access to all the information that the Government seeks nor would it enable it to collect in the short term the US$100,000 million that it estimates to find.
“You have to wait to find out the fine print of the agreement, but, in principle, if we follow the IGA1 model agreement, which the United States usually signs with other countries, all the information that was indicated to be received would not be received. No information would be received from final beneficiaries of foreign companies that have accounts open in the United States or information on bank account balances of Argentines, and information on interest charged on accounts would only be received if they exceed US$10″, detailed the tax consultant and CEO of SDC Asesores Tributarios, Sebastián Domínguez.
On the other hand, he said that the information provided by the United States is usually by calendar year, which is why it would not be usual for it to provide data from September 30, 2021 to December 31 of that same year, as Massa announced. “Following the usual standards, in September 2023 the information for 2022 would be received and to the extent that all the necessary processes are met for it to be so. Tomorrow’s signing implies an agreement, but it does not ensure that, in September 2023, Argentina will receive the information. For example, the United States suspended shipments to Mexico and, during the government of Mauricio Macri, it did not materialize either, although a clause had been included when signing the information exchange agreement,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, in the eventual scenario that the information is finally received in September 2023, the AFIP should process it, cross-check the data, and detect Argentine residents who presumably had not declared accounts in the United States. This would imply that eventual fiscal adjustments and the collection that this information might generate would only take effect during the next government.
In the same sense, said the tax attorney and member of Expansión Holding, Diego Fraga. “The signing of this type of agreement is a milestone that implies the possibility of the United States sending information automatically to Argentina, but, from a practical point of view, it does not mean that evaders are detected immediately, much less that they can be made to meet their obligations owed, as the Government enthusiastically declares every day. The signing of the agreement does not mean that the exchange will start soon. This will depend on technical and political issues. he stated, and emphasized the reputational stains from repeated data leaks and the political use of tax information exchanged, particularly with opposition leaders.
Added to these pitfalls is the potential refusal of taxpayers to provide bank statements, which would generate a relevant delay in any procedure for ex officio determination of the corresponding taxes. It is this context that would motivate Massa’s announcement of the presentation of a laundering project to collect now, to the extent that people are afraid of the information that would be received next September.
“The bill should enter the Chamber of Deputies, since it will create a special tax. It is necessary to see if the Government manages to make political agreements to be able to give it the half sanction in that Chamber. And if it succeeds, in order to analyze whether laundering can be successful, the conditions and the trust it generates must be known,” Domínguez opined.
Finally, Fraga said that the approval of this type of amnesty is a resource to obtain funds from the new governments, so it is It is difficult for the opposition – faced with the concrete possibility of taking office at the end of 2023 – to give this administration the possibility of raising fresh funds in an election year.