As the global commercial exchange rapidly moves towards its digital transformation, what is known as the “knowledge economy” is at a unique juncture. On the one hand, a favorable trend for the Argentine business DNA and the ability to fully insert itself into this current. But a good part of this “skilled labor” also takes advantage of the gaps offered by the different platforms to work directly for foreign clients, charging their services in dollars placed in offshore accounts, without any trace for the AFIP. The Government announced a special regime but the difficulties run the fate of other exports in a market with an acute shortage of foreign currency. The companies that began to pay between 20% and 30% of salaries in banknote dollars, do so with capital contributions (from foreign affiliates) and not by earnings in pesos produced by their operation.
But unlike those who formulate economic policy guidelines, the players in the sector adapt with the rhythm of those who interact in a market that makes speed a virtue. Marcelo Elizondodirector of ID Consultants, says that the issue is part of a much more comprehensive trend. “There are cities that issue a visa for people to work from there for third countries,” she says. If there are 3,000 million workers in the world, almost 1,500 million are connected to the Internet. “We have to rethink what it really means to work for other countries, because the interaction is more and more frequent,” she adds.
For his part, Luis GaleazziExecutive Director argencon, which brings together the most important companies that export “knowledge economy”, referred to the government’s initiative to create the “tech monotribute” by which the self-employed who provide services abroad can invoice blank, without paying income tax and receiving payments directly into their dollar accounts, up to US$30,000 per year. “It’s simply a way to create access to free dollars for the service provider, but it’s not a solution, just a patch,” he says.
“The labor market is one: it cannot be divided into sectors between freelancers and those hired by companies because it is very open, with a constant flow between one and the other,” he adds. The official position of the entity is that there is an asymmetry for companies that do not have access to anything other than the official market. “The real creation of value is not in individual work, but in modern and organized companies that enhance collective knowledge”Galeazzi explains. In this vision, it is objected that the State promotes ending the employment relationship with a company and establishing itself.
It is estimated that there are 480,000 employees in this sector, of which 150,000 are in computer companies. At Argencon they estimate that in recent years 100,000 jobs have gone to the “offshore” segment.
In this, the tax aspect also weighs, in addition to taking advantage of the exchange rate gap. the taxpayer Cesar Litvin he believes that the one who is already in the informal circuit will find it difficult to go to the formal one. “It is another new tax distortion and will generate a violation of equality before the law since if the amount provided for another activity is invoiced, it is automatically passed from the monotribute to the general regime. In addition, when the law ofIt will have to be regulated and we have already seen the usual delay (months and even years) so I perceive a marketing move more than an effective measure”, he concludes. His concern is that there is no deadline for its regulation, a period during which benefits can be limited.
Up hill. “I guess Ihe monotributo tech is a good idea to solve a problem, but without taking into account the mediate consequences”, explains Gustavo Guaragna, CEO of Snoop Consulting, a typical SME in this segment with 23 years of experience., which employs 70 people directly. The reasons why the employer believes that there are damages are mainly four and affect not only the established companies, but also the treasury, the sector and the interested party himself. For the latter, although he welcomes formalizing a higher income, the last defense that protected formal work within a company is demolished. “What is being promoted is legislation that benefits those who are at the top of the income pyramid, assimilating the specific characteristics for work peaks to something permanent.”, he details.
He affirms that, in recent years, the software industry has become a strategic sector with 99% formality, research and development aimed at the entire society and training new specialized workers in a system that makes employment precarious. “Due to the pandemic and the gap, the technological diaspora did not go through Ezeiza but through the platforms”, ironically. Regarding the impact on companies, he affirms that it puts them in an unequal situation: there are contingent costs that foreign contracting companies do not face, aggravated by an aspirational issue to earn dollars, which does not occur in the Brazilian or Chilean market, for example. For society, he also believes that it is negative because by cutting the top of the labor pyramid, those who make it possible to replicate typical teamwork in the sector are eliminated”, he clarifies. And finally, it affects the State itself, because it will not automatically add dollars, but rather they will probably be hoarded or sold in the informal market, something very difficult to audit, contrasting with the previous stage when control over few and large companies was feasible. “Ultimately -he concludes- Argentinian exports are being prioritized”, he emphasizes, changing a conjunctural use of the exchange rate gap for the construction of a system that discourages the sustainability of an environment that adds value and internalizes technological talent”.
