The Federal Administration of Public Revenues (AFIP) summoned more than 2,500 taxpayers who have accounts or financial assets outside the countrywhich were not reported in their 2018 tax returns.
The persons intimidated -reported the agency- show inconsistencies between the sworn declarations of taxes on Personal Assets and Earnings filed with the agency in 2018 and the balances and payments received abroad from accounts or financial holdings.
Agency sources estimated that the economic damage to the State due to these irregularities exceeds 2.9 billion pesos in loss of tax collection.
“The objective is to avoid tax evasion maneuvers,” AFIP assured in a statement in which it explained that the inspection and control tasks are a decision of the agency “to reinforce tax revenues from segments of the population with greater purchasing power.”
The Automatic Exchange of Information
The identification of the accounts or financial holdings is the result of the information received by the AFIP through the Standard for the Automatic Exchange of Information on Financial Accounts. More than one hundred countries are adhered to this mechanism, among which the United States is not found.
Argentina has adhered to this multilateral agreement for the exchange of financial information since 2017, but the Cambiemos government did not take much care to control and cross-check the information on foreign accounts with the sworn declarations of personal assets and earnings of their holders. This task only began to be executed from the beginning of the management of Mercedes Marcó del Pont in the AFIP, at the end of 2019.
In the inspection tasks, a universe of taxpayers was detected who showed differences in the financial holdings reported in the personal property affidavit with respect to what was previously reported; or for the payments generated by said assets in the Income Tax affidavit.
“The Tax Procedure Law establishes, if applicable, the application of fines and penalties for non-compliance with tax obligations,” said the body led by Carlos Castagneto.
