Tax awareness in Argentina

Fiscal Transparency Proposal - Update

The Fiscal Transparency Proposal (FTP) is in the process of being implemented and we are working on three aspects:

- regulation of the law;

- adhesion of the provinces to the regime;

- mass communications campaign.

Regarding the regulation, we have met with various officials of the National Executive Branch to make ourselves available and to provide our contributions as ideologues of the regime, in cases where they have requested them. In this regard, in addition to the meetings we held meetings with several people: the Tax Federal Administrator and her team, the Minister of Deregulation; the Secretary of Finance; the Undersecretary of Public Revenue; the Undersecretary of Consumer Defense, and with one of the Directors of the Central Bank.

The regulatory rules are expected to be published in the next few days. As announced, a decree, a resolution from the Ministry of Economy, a resolution from the Tax Administration and a resolution from the Undersecretary of Consumer Protection would be issued. The implementation would be gradual, starting with the display of Added Value Tax and internal taxes on purchase receipts and continuing later with the rest of the taxes, according to the schedule.

Once the regulatory standards are published, it is expected that the provinces will begin to adhere to the display of state and local taxes. Regarding the latter, for the moment, bills have been presented in the City of Buenos Aires, the Province of Buenos Aires (one bill in each House of the Legislature), Río Negro, Santa Fe and La Pampa. We have also received inquiries from other provinces, but no new initiatives have yet been formalized.

Finally, regarding the communication of the FTP, Lógica is working in the planning and execution of a mass campaign, both from the point of view of content production and the media plan to carry it out. It should be noted that the Executive Branch will not be carrying out a campaign given the restriction of funds allocated for official advertising. For this reason, we have been meeting with leading companies to fund Lógica's campaign, either through financial contributions or through the use of their brands, in order to carry out mass communication actions, in an economic effort comparable to the launch of a mass consumption product.

Local taxes in services bills

Regarding Resolution 267/2024 of the Secretariat of Industry and Commerce, which prohibits the inclusion of municipal taxes and other charges in the bills for energy, gas, water, fuel, etc., we at Lógica have appeared in a dozen judicial cases where its validity is being discussed. We have expressed Lógica's opinion, the conclusion of which is that such "hybrid bills" undermine tax awareness by confusing citizens who, for the most part, do not know how to distinguish a tax from a service charge. One of the judicial presentations with all the arguments in defense of such a position can be found on Lógica's website.

Lógica's presentation is in the role of Amicus Curiae (Friends of the Court), as experts on the issue under discussion. Lógica was accepted in the judicial cases initiated by the following cities: Pilar, Hurlingham, Escobar, Moreno, Tigre, Almirante Brown, Lanus. And it was rejected in those of San Fernando and Quilmes. The acceptance of Lógica as Amicus Curiae in the majority of the cases, at this very early stage, has been novel given that it is normally reserved for the instance of the Supreme Court, after convening this court.

Transparency in public spending

The general objectives of Lógica are aimed at generating fiscal culture and awareness at all levels of society. Our first action so far has been to make the tax system for mass consumption transparent. With the FTP we believe that this objective will have firm roots and will be a turning point in the relationship between citizens and the taxes they face.

Our action number 2 will be “the other side of the coin”, the transparency of public spending, given that it is important to know not only how it is financed but also how it is used. We are working on the design of a tool to guarantee massive and user-friendly access to public spending data in Argentina, in order to give citizens visibility of both sides of the coin. We are holding meetings with government authorities at the highest level, supported by specialists in the field.

Communications facts

Eikon Award

Our communication campaign “Fiscal transparency, the path to a logical country” was awarded the Golden Eikon (NGO category), granted by Imagen magazine. This publication is a veteran in the field of institutional communication in Argentina, and the Eikon awards for excellence are a milestone in the country's professional calendar. This award makes us proud, especially because we made it with the evaluation of our first working year.

Metrics

During the last 60 days period, 18 media outlets were made throughout the country, on all platforms.

The performance on the social media can be read in the attached document.

• Global_Giving_Report__December_2024.pdf (PDF)