Cryptocurrency is listed among assets a taxpayer could legalise without supplying any “additional documentation” on their origins in the Law of Bases and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentines.
Under the leadership of self-described libertarian Javier Milei, the newly established government of Argentina claims it will expedite the legalisation of cryptocurrency holdings, even if they are past due on tax returns.
The Argentine Congress was presented with the Law of Bases and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentines on December 27. The controversial reformist agenda of Milei is initiated by the 351-page bill, which contains multiple reforms in the areas of tax, labour, criminal, energy, and electoral matters.
The bill makes a few references to cryptocurrency in relation to tax payment processes. The document specifies the kinds of assets that a taxpayer is allowed to legalise without having to provide any “additional documentation” regarding their origins in a section devoted to the so-called “asset regularisation scheme.”
Within the framework of such a regularisation scheme, the taxpayer would only be required to pay a flat tax on assets: 5% if he declares holdings by the end of March 2024, 10% from April through the end of June 2024, and 15% from July through the end of September.
Prior to this, in December, Argentina’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade, and Worship Diana Mondino asserted that a proclamation intended at deregulating and reforming the economy would permit the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the nation under specific circumstances.
The Dec. 20 decree, titled “Bases for the Reconstruction of the Argentine Economy,” allowed debtors to make payments in currencies that were not accepted as legal tender in Argentina, but it made no mention of cryptocurrencies.
As Javier Milei took office, the nation was experiencing severe inflation. Bitcoin was once described as a movement towards “the return of money to its original creator, the private sector” by the president of Argentina. He hasn’t made any public remarks regarding digital assets since taking office.