Argentina targets US dollars hoarded under mattresses, eases tax evasion rules
Argentine President Javier Milei on Friday signed into law a so-called “tax innocence” bill, which aims to encourage people to bank dollars stashed under mattresses or in offshore accounts by forgiving a degree of tax evasion. Over years of high inflation and currency controls, Argentines traded their battered pesos for dollars, which they often hoarded…
Over years of high inflation and currency controls, Argentines traded their battered pesos for dollars, which they often hoarded at home, in cash.
Milei has been on a mission to get citizens to bank their dollars to help the state meet foreign debt payments totalling US$19 billion this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
To lure deposits, Congress in December voted to raise 66-fold the amount for which citizens can face prosecution for tax evasion to the equivalent of US$70,000 per financial year.
