Cristina asks AFIP to investigate man who commented for newspaper article

[French jurist]

Still, political opinions aside, the guy has been really dumb. He should have kept a low profile.

 

[el_expatriado]

I think the basic logic that French jurist is getting at is that if you don't pay taxes, you don't have the right to criticize how the gov't is spending its money. It isn't a bad argument, but I don't agree.

There are many citizens who don't earn enough money to pay income tax, but I still think they deserve a voice in how the government spends tax payer dollars. Plus in Argentina everyone pays indirect taxes via the things they buy (VAT, ingresos brutos, etc). So everyone here is a taxpayer to some extent.

Also, if you have a peso in your pocket, you are paying taxes to the tune of 30% per year due to inflation. The government is emitting a ton of pesos and devaluating the currency. This is an invisible tax that we all pay.

 

[ElQueso]

In a corrupt system, I think every citizen has a right to protest by not paying income taxes. I don't think it's a shameful thing in a case like Argentina where there are so many obstacles to making a decent living, almost all of them put in place by the government.

That's not to say that someone doing such shouldn't expect to pay for it in the end, particularly by making himself conspicuous.

There are a couple of things that get me about this whole thing.

I didn't see the other article where the guy was quoted, but what they mentioned in the linked article in this thread wasn't criticism - it was merely a statement of fact. He even said he's suggested paying in pesos, which should make Cristina positively wiggle with joy, I would think. It's not his fault that no one wants pesos.

Also, seems quite dictatorial of Cristina to just brazenly announce in the open that she sicked AFIP on him, then said "oops I outed the guy illegally, but it doesn't matter." Wow. She must feel pretty damned sure of her hand on the till...

 

[ElQueso]

Do you ever wonder if Cristina reads BA Expats? Or one of her "advisers"? At this point I'm at least half tongue-in-cheek, but it's good to remember that we're not above things here just because we're residents and not citizens, or even tourists. I'm not suggesting people stop posting their thoughts at all, I certainly don't plant to change my habits in that regard. Just something to think about.

 

[AndrewWoodward]

I think the basic logic that French jurist is getting at is that if you don't pay taxes, you don't have the right to criticize how the gov't is spending its money. It isn't a bad argument, but I don't agree.

I think what he's saying is that if you have been committing a crime for the past five years, it's best not to grant interviews. Or that's what common sense says anyway...

 

[LostinBA]

Going with that logic, everyone evades taxes in Argentina, so if the guy hasn't paid his taxes since 2007, he's doing the right thing.

but if noone pays taxes then who is going to pay the salaries of the police when they steal the laptop from your car when you lie passed out, or pay their pensions when they look the other way during a robbery?

At least 2 young people I know working in the federal government here in BA have bragged about how high their salaries are. Both are under the age of 30 years old, drive expensive Audi's and laugh about how they don't have to pay taxes on their salaries.

I feel sorry for the poor chumps who work hard everyday to feed their families when so many others are taking advantage. It's no wonder that they don't want to pay taxes either.

 

[French jurist]

A true story:

When I had no documentation here (was only a tourist), I went to the AFIP anyway because I wanted to pay taxes.

I went to see the lady at the information desk and told her: I'm French, I work for a foreign company which pays me in USDs, etc.
She was a bit surprised so she called a supervisor (or maybe the Branch manager) who invited me in his office.

The guy was more or less asking me: But why do you want to pay taxes?! Just let it be that way!

Quite surrealistic... lol

 

[el_expatriado]

A true story:

When I had no documentation here (was only a tourist), I went to the AFIP anyway because I wanted to pay taxes.

I went to see the lady at the information desk and told her: I'm French, I work for a foreign company which pays me in USDs, etc.
She was a bit surprised so she called a supervisor (or maybe the Branch manager) who invited me in his office.

The guy was more or less asking me: But why do you want to pay taxes?! Just let it be that way!

Quite surrealistic... lol

I heard a similar story from a guy who was in the same situation. He was getting paid abroad in USD by his employer and was a resident in Argentina. He was getting a very large salary and naturally assumed that as a resident of Argentina he'd need to pay taxes here, then file for a tax credit in his home country, etc.

He went to PriceWaterhouseCoopers and met with their top international tax people and they told him to just pay monotributo here to justify some income and not to complicate his life.

Can you imagine PWC or the IRS or anyone else in the US tell you to just not declare your foreign income so as to not complicate your life? They would never do that in a million years. But people here have a different attitude about things. No one in Argentina just voluntarily hands over taxes like people do in the developed countries.

I think that has a lot to do with the fact that they don't believe their country provides them with services that justify what they would have to pay in taxes.

 

[nicoenarg]

A true story:

When I had no documentation here (was only a tourist), I went to the AFIP anyway because I wanted to pay taxes.

I went to see the lady at the information desk and told her: I'm French, I work for a foreign company which pays me in USDs, etc.
She was a bit surprised so she called a supervisor (or maybe the Branch manager) who invited me in his office.

The guy was more or less asking me: But why do you want to pay taxes?! Just let it be that way!

Quite surrealistic... lol

Argentine Tax Law: (Source: Deloitte in Argentina):

"Foreign individuals with a temporary visa, as well as accompanying relatives, who are required to remain in Argentina by reason of their employment for a period not exceeding five years, are not considered Argentine residents for tax purposes."

So if you're here on a temporary visa (whether tourist/business visa or temporary resident visa) because of your company for upto five years, you do not need to pay any taxes.

Otherwise the following applies:

"Foreign individuals who have been granted a permanent residence visa or individuals with a temporary visa who have remained in Argentina for more than 6 months [are generally considered Argentine residents as long as their absences from the country] do not exceed 90 days in a 12 month period."

Also, the following might help:

"A foreign individual with an employment contract for up to five years is taxed only on Argentine-source income, provided the individual holds a temporary visa."

So, legally, you should not be paying taxes on your foreign income if the above applies to you.

 

[el_expatriado]

Argentine Tax Law: (Source: Deloitte in Argentina):

"Foreign individuals with a temporary visa, as well as accompanying relatives, who are required to remain in Argentina by reason of their employment for a period not exceeding five years, are not considered Argentine residents for tax purposes."

I believe you have to have a work visa for this to apply. If you are here on any other class of visa (rentista, pensionado, etc) you have to pony up.