The same taxes all Argentine tax residents must pay in addition to the income and wealth taxes they may be subject to?
Massa’s entire platform and political space is based on wealth redistribution through a model of taxation and capital controls to pay for its expansive social justice and welfare programs, so presumably expats who want to see him win will embrace the opportunity to file and pay their full and fair share of Argentine taxes and conduct their own personal business according to his laws, right? Or I wonder if there are any expats around here who decry the libertarianism of Milei while picking up a Western Union transfer for overseas rent, pension or freelance income with their DNI hidden in their back pocket with no intention of declaring it as such on their DDJJ? (Despite the fact that the man they decry and his libertarian policies are, in principle, actually anti taxation so that perhaps one day “native” Argentines can enjoy a similar “tax free” lifestyle as their SJW expat friends who migrated here…)
I see what you're saying, and it's something I can be open minded enough to see various sides and also realize that at various times in my life depending on where I happen to be living I may have certain advantages not shared by others. It's not at all that I want to see Massa win. It's that I don't want to see Milei win. Same as I wasn't a fan of either Clinton or Biden, I just didn't want to see Trump win.
As far as taxes and contributing, how I see it is that I'm paying income taxes in the country where the income is being generated. I don't generate any income here because what I do isn't a thing here. Nobody will pay me for what I do because there's no existing demand. Cultural differences when it comes to doing business. Bueno. What I do pay here is consumption tax of over 20% on most of my purchases. Due to my age and avg. life expectancy there are benefits here I wouldn't be eligible for even if I was working and paying income tax. Others require ten years of residency, so I'm not receiving those either. No complaints. The principal reason I'm here is because of my wife and her family - not to take advantage of a situation because I'm an immigrant. Like everyone else in the world, I'll make do to the best of my ability no matter where I am and what the circumstances are.
If the govt. can't make do on my slightly greater than 20% contribution on most everything I consume I see that as a govt. competency issue, not an issue of my not making a significant enough contribution. My consumption also benefits the businesses I purchase from and allows them to hire workers, so overall benefit to the economy. I'm sure we all know several native Argentines who work under the table and aren't declaring their earnings so in that regard I'm equal to them - though I'm sure they're receiving more benefits than I'm eligible for. Again, no complaints on my part. What the guy who we paid to paint our house and do other maintenance tasks beyond my skill set declares or not I have no idea, nor is it my concern. I'm just happy to throw the guy some work, esp. if it keeps me off of high ladders.
It's not optimal (what is?), but it is what is. About the only control I can exert as far as how whatever govt. is collecting taxes from me is through my vote - and still waiting on my DNI means I'm not able to vote here. And even if I can, there's certainly no guarantee my taxes will go to the things that I personally find important.
I completely understand people wanting to minimize or avoid paying taxes where they can when you take into account the amount of corruption in governments of just about every country and at every level. Why should the average citizen/expat be overly concerned about contributing (more than) their "fair share" if it's going to subsidize corruption so that the political class can live like kings instead of using those tax funds to better the lives of the people? Take my consumption tax, hopefully use it to benefit Argentina and the people, or stick it in your pocket and enrich yourself - I have no control over the collection of taxes or where the money goes once it's collected so I try not to get too concerned about it, but I certainly don't have an incentive to contribute more than I need to and I don't feel any guilt or think that I'm even partially responsible for Argentines who are living in poverty. And then there are those billionaires who don't pay taxes at all thanks to the politicians they buy wand who individually or in a small group could solve many of the world's problems and still live like kings.
Personally, I never had a horse in this presidential race. I don't have any hopes or expectations that any of them will deliver, make the country better as a whole or for those who live inside it's borders. My only preference in elections has to do with authoritarians, fascists, and fascism in general. I have family who died fighting fascism in WWII and the Spanish Civil War and so fascism just turns my stomach, so no matter who the opponent may be, I'm always going to speak out against the fascist candidate. Policy wise I'm concerned with human rights and don't want to see the country become run on principals of machismo and for women to lose rights they currently have. I don't think easing access to guns is any kind of practical solution to anything because countries with easy and practically unrestricted access to guns seem to be the ones with the most gun related violence. In general I take science seriously, and specifically when it comes to climate change and see it as the greatest challenge our children, grandchildren, and their children will face having to clean up after us and our ancestors that came before. So someone who denies science and claims it's a "Socialist lie" is not going to get my support because I don't believe in shitting where you sleep if it means making a buck by exploiting someone else's labor. I don't think violence or even encouraging violence is any kind of solution. Same with hatred against an individual or group because of their religious beliefs, color of their skin, sexual preference or how they want to be identified, or just because they're somehow different from me. Friends in Ecuador and my reading how dollarization has made the situation worse in countries like Lebanon lead me to the conclusion that it's not the easy fix some believe it would be. Overall, I'll take sane and partially competent over crazy and any degree of competence. I'm all for change on a massive scale, 'tear down the system,' I just don't want to see it replaced by what Milei is proposing and where he has no plan or support on how to practically replace that which he wants to tear down. I didn't believe Trump when he said "I alone can fix everything," and considering Milei is a party of one with only support of around 30% of the population and none when it comes to Governors, Mayors, Congress, etc. I don't believe he alone can fix Argentina either.
It's interesting that the left was always seen as being anti-establishment, revolutionary, wanting to tear down the system, "crazy," and now it's the extreme right occupying that position. Say what you will about leftist revolutionaries, at least some (certainly not all) of them were idealists with legitimate concern for the people. The radical right is just interested in destruction and watching things burn in the chaos. There's not a single extreme right leader in history who has ever given a shit about people, only their own wealth and power and to increase the wealth and power of those in a position to facilitate their demands.
