The City of Buenos Aires took a step that seeks to mark a before and after in the link between state and new technologies: The possibility of paying taxes and municipal fees with cryptocurrencies. The announcement is part of the plan Buenos Aires crypta series of reforms that aim to modernize the tax system, facilitate foreign investments and position the Argentine capital as a reference in financial innovation within the region.
The program was officially presented with four central measures: the incorporation of activities linked to the world crypto to the tax nomenclator, the establishment of a differential taxable basis for the sale of digital assets, the option of paying taxes directly in cryptocurrencies and the exclusion of certain banking retentions for service providers of the sector.
The launch was headed by the Head of Government, Jorge Macriat the The Slow Kale bar, in the Collegiate neighborhood, one of the Buenos Aires shops that already accepts payments with crypto. “The objective is for the city to be a world leader in Crypto. We have the human capital and now we are generating the tools by reducing the bureaucracy to facilitate the fulfillment of the taxpayers and accompany the arrival of the new companies that are installed here,” said the president.
How will the payment of taxes in cryptocurrencies work
The most striking axis of the plan is the possibility of canceling fiscal obligations in cryptoactive. In practice, taxpayers – be they neighbors, independent professionals or companies – may pay their local taxes, from ABL to driving licenses or patents, using digital currencies.
In dialogue with Channel E, Julián Colombo, CEO of Bitso ArgentinaHe explained that the mechanism is designed so that the user should not carry out additional procedures or worry about the conversion to pesos. “From any wallet where you have your cryptocurrencies, you will be able to transfer them directly to the collecting entity, whether the traffic or that of ABL. The city government will be commissioned after converting those funds to pesos and imputing them into the corresponding account,” he explained.
Innovation is that the bureaucracy of the change from crypt to local currency will fall on the Buenos Aires administration and not on the taxpayer. The Government, for regulatory reasons, is obliged to turn payments to pesos, but that task will be “on them”, which simplifies the experience for the user.
Compatibility with traditional means of payment
Colombo added that the city seeks that the system be compatible with the tools already used by taxpayers. “What is being worked on now is to integrate traditional media such as the customer number, the QR or the barcode with the crypt world,” he said. In other words, Paying in Bitcoin, Ethereum or other digital currencies should be as simple as today it is to scan a ballot code with a virtual pesos wallet.
Another point of the plan is the formalization of activities related to cryptoactive in the nomenclator of the AGIP (Government administration of public income). Until now, those who worked in the sector should be located in analogous areas to be able to pay. With the reform, they will have specific categories that recognize their activity, which provides tax clarity and reduces legal insecurity.
“Today they will have a category within the nomenclator and will be able to pay themselves to the corresponding rates. Before a similar space to fit, now the sector has its own identity within the fiscal system,” explained the CEO of Bitso in its talk with Channel E.
A change in the tax base of gross income
The third key aspect of the plan is the modification in the way of calculating Gross income For operations with cryptocurrencies. Until now, the tax applied to the total volume of the transaction, which generated a kind of double imposition when indistinctly purchase and sale. With the new scheme, only real gain will be taxed, that is, on the difference between purchase price and sale price.
For the sector, this change was a long -awaited demand. The measure, recognizing the particular dynamics of cryptoactive ones, not only avoids distortions but also aligns the city with more rational international standards in tax matters.
The plan also contemplates the Exclusion of the Banking Revenue Collection Regime for virtual asset services providing companies. In practice, this eliminates a retention that affected the operating flow of these companies, giving them greater margin of maneuver and predictability. For Colombo, this modification is a concrete incentive for exchanges and startups crypto to see Buenos Aires as a fertile terrain to settle and grow.
A message to the market and the world
The measurement package seeks to send a clear signal: Buenos Aires wants to be the protagonist of the digital economy. By allowing taxes, services and procedures to be paid in cryptocurrencies, The city adds to a global trend that is already observed in some US states, in Switzerland and in countries such as El Salvador, which adopted regulations favorable to the use of digital currencies in everyday transactions.
The CEO of Bitso celebrated the initiative in its interview with Channel E and stressed that it is a gesture that can boost market confidence. “That the government of one of the most important cities in Latin America is encouraged to take this step means that cryptocurrencies are entering a stage of official normalization and recognition,” he said.
Beyond enthusiasm, they still have to define technical and regulatory details. It will be key to determine which cryptocurrencies will be enabled, what exchanges or virtual wallets can act as intermediaries and how transparency in conversion to pesos will be guaranteed. The challenge of volatility also persists, a factor that forces public administrations to design agile mechanisms to avoid losses in collection.
By rn
