Buenos Aires City Government Aiming To Allow Crypto To Be Used for Tax Payments

Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, who is the mayor of Buenos Aires, says he wants residents of Argentina’s capital to be able to pay municipal taxes using cryptoassets.

According to a report by CoinDesk, on Monday (Apr 25), the 56-year-old economist and politician, who has been the mayor of the City of Buenos Aires since 2015, announced that the city government will allow tax payments by residents to be made using crypto, but this crypto will automatically get converted by some crypto payment processor(s) to Argentine pesos before being delivered to the city government’s bank account(s).

His comments were made as part of a speech that presented his “Buenos Aires+” plan, which is a set of 12 measures “to continue building a modern, efficient, close State that takes advantage of technology to accompany all the potential that the citizens of Buenos Aires have.”

The Head of Government of Buenos Aires talked about 12 upcoming changes during his speech. Below are a few highlights based on a notice issued on April 26 by the city government.

The First Transformation: Digital Identity

“The first change is what we call the self-sovereign digital identity, which is one of the most innovative tools that are being given in the world so that citizens have their digital identification. Through an application, people will be able to digitally authenticate their identity, and that will allow them to have access to all their information in one place, their phone.“

The Fifth Transformation: Digital Training

“The fifth transformation has to do with digital training… between April and December we are going to extend the digital islands to the central service headquarters, so that people who do not have access to a computer they can do right there and they can learn, so next time they don’t have to go to a public office.“

The Ninth Transformation: Payment of Taxes

“Together with the leading companies, we are working so that those who wish can pay their taxes in cryptocurrencies… This does not mean that the City is going to have cryptocurrencies in its public accounts, but that based on an agreement with the virtual wallets we are going to add a payment option to those we already have, with the idea of making things easier.“

CoinDesk’s report also mentioned that Diego Fernández, the city’s secretary of innovation and digital transformation, had told CoinDesk that this support for crypto payments would become available in the “coming months.”

It is interesting to note that on March 28, CoinDesk reported that the city of Rio de Janeiro had announced on March 25 that it planned to allow “the payment of a municipal real estate tax with cryptocurrencies starting in 2023.”

Apparently, Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes reportedly said in a statement:

“Our effort here is to make it clear that in the city of Rio we have official initiatives that recognize this market… Now those who invest in cryptocurrency and live in the city of Rio will be able to spend this asset here paying official tax in the city of Rio. And we’re going to move on this fast.“

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed by the author, or any people mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only, and they do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading cryptoassets comes with a risk of financial loss.

Image Credit

Featured Image by “moerschy” via Pixabay.com