Al Ain News
Friday 9/18/2020 01:17 AM Abu Dhabi time
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Argentine Member of Parliament Carlos Heller revealed the government’s intention to expand the scope of the wealth tax that is collected once from the wealthy to include the wealthy residing abroad from among its children.
The member of Parliament promoting this step indicated that Parliament is studying legislative amendment to implement it.
Bloomberg News reported that this tax is currently applied only to wealthy people residing in Argentina.
Heller said during a meeting of the Budget Committee in Parliament that the government intends to introduce an amendment to Article 2 of this tax law to include wealthy people residing abroad, and their shares in companies located in Argentina.
Heller added that the legislative amendment aims “to avoid discrimination in treatment between residents and those who have changed their place of residence … This amendment aims to ensure that those non-residents who own shares in Argentine companies pay the tax.”
The Argentine government is still trying to reach an agreement with international creditors on the restructuring of $ 65 billion of its external debt.
At the beginning of this month, S&P Global raised Argentina’s rating to a positive CC, with a stable foreign outlook, following the Argentine issuance of new bonds on September 4 to replace the old bonds that have stopped paying them since last May.
Argentina defaulted on nearly $ 500 million in debts last May, and failure to reach an agreement to restructure the state’s debt could threaten bankruptcy.
Argentina’s debt currently stands at $ 324 billion, accounting for 90% of its GDP, including $ 65 billion for foreign investors.
Most of this debt has formed since 2016, when international investors were optimistic about President Mauricio Macri’s capitalist government, which raised the stakes on reviving growth after years of government intervention in the economy, under the leadership of former president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
And last July, the International Monetary Fund denied reports circulating that Argentina had applied for a new loan, despite expecting to enter into negotiations with the Tango countries.
In February, the International Monetary Fund refused to exempt Argentina from repaying part of the $ 44 billion loan, describing Argentina’s debt burden as above its burden.
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