Argentina has made an abrupt u-turn on an earlier stance that was adopted by the local authorities. The Argentinian government has decided to impose a tax on credits and debts on transactions that involve crypto assets. The measure was published on November 17 and went into force the same day.
Local paper Buenos Aires Times reported the decree. The Argintinian cabinet said, “The exemptions provided for in this decree and in other regulations of a similar nature will not be applicable in those cases in which the movements of funds are linked to the purchase, sale, exchange, intermediation and/or any other operation on crypto assets, cryptocurrencies, digital coins, or similar instruments, in the terms defined by the applicable regulations.”
Crypto transactions were previously exempt from the tax, named the tax on credits and debts in bank accounts and other transactions. These transactions were treated as if they were cash transfers, according to Sebastian Dominguez (from Argintinian tax consultancy SDC Asesores Tributarios).
The tax is levied at rates of up to 0.6%.
The latest development imposes a further levy on Argentinian crypto users. In 2017, the country’s tax code was reformed which extended the income tax to capital gains earned from transactions that involve crypto assets.
At the beginning of November, it was reported that a growing number of countries were eyeing Latin America. These countries included the likes of Argentina and Paraguay in particular, amid the search to create new bases for Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoin mining operations.
The University of Cambridge released data which shows that Argentina accounted for just 0.05% of the global Bitcoin hashrate last summer. It is yet to become clear whether Argentina’s revised tax policy will have a negative impact on the country’s appeal to large industry players.
