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The Government received information on Argentine accounts in the United States in the context of money laundering - Infobae
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El Gobierno recibió información de cuentas de argentinos en Estados Unidos en el marco del blanqueo de capitales
La AFIP recibió los primeros datos sobre cuentas bancarias de argentinos en Estados Unidos, en lo que constituye un paso clave para incentivar la adhesión al blanqueo de capitales. Los datos fueron enviados en el marco del acuerdo FATCA que había sido firmado por Sergio Massa
www.infobae.com
September 30, 2024
The AFIP received the first data on bank accounts of Argentines in the United States, which is a key step to encourage adherence to money laundering. The data was sent within the framework of the FATCA agreement that had been signed by Sergio Massa
In the final stretch of the tax reform, AFIP seeks to increase the perception of risk among those who do not adhere to it and have undeclared assets (Photo: Shutterstock)
In recent days, the Government received for the first time a set of data related to bank accounts of Argentine citizens in the United States . This information, provided by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) , marks a milestone in cooperation between both countries in tax matters. The exchange of information is carried out under the framework of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act ( FATCA ), an international agreement that aims to combat tax evasion by detecting undeclared assets abroad and that had been activated by Sergio Massa when he was in charge of the Ministry of Economy.
The receipt of this data coincides with the first phase of the Asset Regularization Regime , commonly known as money laundering . This phase was recently extended until October 31, allowing taxpayers to regularize undeclared assets, both in the country and abroad, without facing significant penalties. The information received is crucial to encourage adherence to money laundering, since tax authorities will be able to cross-check the data with local declarations to detect possible irregularities .
The Federal Public Revenue Administration (AFIP) has confirmed that the data received includes key information on the holders of bank accounts in the United States , the amounts of interest and dividends received, as well as other income from the United States obtained by Argentine residents until December 31 of last year. However, the information does not include data on the final beneficiaries or account movements, which partially limits the scope of the actions that can be taken immediately.
This exchange of information, which took several years to materialize, has been a long-sought goal by various Argentine administrations. Although it was in 2022, during Sergio Massa 's administration as Minister of Economy, when the FATCA agreement was signed , it was only now that the country began to receive the first concrete data . The current government considers this tool to be key not only to identify undeclared accounts in the United States , but also to encourage those who have not yet regularized their assets abroad to adhere to the current money laundering regime.
In addition to cooperation with the United States , Argentina maintains tax agreements with 146 other countries, including several traditional destinations for undeclared capital, such as Uruguay , Switzerland and the Cayman Islands . These agreements, signed within the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) , allowed the country to access valuable data on the financial situation of its residents abroad. In this context, AFIP continues to advance its oversight strategies, with the aim of identifying and regularising assets hidden outside the country.
FATCA , unlike other multilateral agreements, is limited to reporting information on bank account holders and income obtained in the United States. It does not include details on legal entities operating under structures such as trusts or companies in offshore jurisdictions , which could leave certain types of financial assets held by Argentines abroad outside of the control . Despite this limitation, the authorities hope that the agreement will allow a significant increase in the levels of capital regularization in the country.
The current money laundering is the sixth since the 1980s and has been driven by the difficulties faced by the government in obtaining external financing and improving the situation of international reserves. In the money laundering carried out in 2016, during the presidency of Mauricio Macri , assets totalling 116 billion dollars were regularised, of which more than 7.7 billion entered the country in the form of deposits. On this occasion, government estimates suggest that between 30 and 40 billion dollars could be externalised.
The success of the money laundering process depends largely on taxpayers' confidence that the process will be fair and on the perception that those who fail to regularize their assets could face significant penalties in the future. To encourage participation, the government has set favorable conditions, including the possibility of regularizing up to $100,000 in cash without penalties. At the same time, through measures such as information sharing with the US , it seeks to increase the perceived risk of taxpayers in default.
