ARGENTINA Country Profile

Tax Administration

Individual Corruption

The Government of Argentina struggles with high levels of tax evasion among its citizens, which inhibits the government from fully benefiting from a growing private tax base. According to the Bertelsmann Foundation 2010, individual tax evasion is driven by the public's mistrust of the government, which is again fuelled by the low effectiveness of public services and the after-effects of the corralito (freezing of bank accounts), the set of strict economic measures taken at the end of 2001, in which bank accounts were almost completely frozen and withdrawal of USD was forbidden.

Business Corruption

Companies report that they experience corruption in tax collection, where they face frequent interaction with tax officials. According to the World Bank & IFC Enterprise Surveys 2006, companies have more meetings with tax officials in Argentina than in most countries in the South American region, and some companies report that they expect to give gifts to tax officials in connection with these meetings. However, according to the World Bank & IFC Doing Business 2010, the number of annual corporate tax payments have fallen considerately between 2007 and 2009.

According to the US Department of State 2009, national taxation rules treat domestic and foreign companies equally; however, tax authorities do scrutinise tax declarations of foreign companies operating in Argentina with the intent of curbing the use of offshore companies to shelter profits and assets declaration. This is further highlighted in Global Integrity 2008, where tax laws are assessed as being enforced discriminatorily. 

Political Corruption

According to Javno News, in 2007, former Defence Minister Nilda Garre was questioned over a possible tax evasion case in relation to a government weapons deal. There were allegations that the weapons were undervalued to avoid customs taxes. The investigation was, however, cancelled.

According to Global Integrity 2008, the head of Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos (AFIP), the agency responsible for the national tax collection, was removed due to political differences with Custom's head and due to corruption suspicions.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2010:
- A medium-size company operating in Argentina must make 9 payments to tax authorities every year, taking 453 hours on average at a total tax rate of 108% of profits.

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2009:
- 1% of households who had contact with tax revenue services throughout 2008 report to have paid a bribe.

Transparency International: Bribe Payers Index 2008:
- Business executives give the tax revenue authorities a score of 2.6 on a 5-point scale (1 being 'not at all corrupt' and 5 'extremely corrupt').

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2006:
- Approximately 49% of companies report that a typical company declares less than 100% of its sales for tax purposes.

- Nearly 44% of companies identify tax administration as a major constraint for doing business.

- Almost 4% of companies report that they expect to give gifts in meeting with tax inspectors.