Echegaray: ‘People shouldn’t be afraid, we are only after taxes’

AFIP tax agency head Ricardo Echegaray ruled out today that the government measures restricting and taxing purchases made abroad have a ‘persecutory’ tone.

‘People shouldn’t be afraid, we are only after taxes,’ the official said as he defended the measures.

According to the official, the policies are coherent with President Fernández de Kirchner's administration guidelines.

“Argentina is a free and democratic country. We are only asking people to have a coherent behavior in tune with their income”, Echegaray said today in a radio interview. 

“Tax payers can vacation wherever they want”, the AFIP boss added.

Likewise, the official also denied the government was planning to place a chip on Argentine passports.

“It is out of the question. We don’t have intention to adopt any policies limiting people’s rights guaranteed on the constitution.”

AFIP is seeking to have a stronger grasp on contributors by taxing them on credit and debit card and internet purchases made abroad. 

According to the tax bureau’s data, Argentines spent 7.4 billion pesos between January and June 18th 2012 in purchases made abroad and paid with 168,000 credit cards.