BUENOS AIRES: The United States will immediately begin work on ways to expedite the exchange of tax information with Argentina, US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Monday, signaling a move that could aid Argentina's tax amnesty program to repatriate overseas assets.
"To accelerate the process of sharing tax data on Argentine residents in the United States, Treasury and Argentina's tax agency will immediately begin assessing Argentina's preparedness to receive such information and to explore steps to expedite the process," Lew said at the start of a meeting with Argentine Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay.
Lew is on the first visit to Argentina by a US Treasury Secretary since 2002, part of a swing through Latin America's largest economies this week.
Argentine President Mauricio Macri's government is betting a tax amnesty opened in August can bring in some of the investment crucial to restoring growth in Argentina, Latin America's third-largest economy.
After taking office in December following 12 years of leftist rule, Macri quickly implemented policies favored by investors, such as lifting currency controls and ending a decade-long debt dispute with hold-out creditors.
But many are hesitant to invest in an economy battling double-digit inflation and known for frequent crises. Now, the government has its sights on an estimated $400 billion of undeclared assets that Argentines hold abroad. Assets declared by the end of March will be taxed at a maximum 15 percent rate.
The amnesty would be considered a failure if under $40 billion were declared, while more than $60 billion would be a great success, Jorge Vi?as of Asset Management said in a recent forum. Better cooperation to identify Argentine assets held in the United States could encourage more of that wealth to be brought home and put to work to grow Argentina's economy.
Tax revenue from the program could also help limit Argentina's borrowing requirements to $10-15 billion next year, Prat-Gay said last week. Lew told reporters he has invited Argentine tax officials to visit the Treasury in Washington next week for consultations aimed at reaching a bilateral tax treaty.
He added that he has instructed senior US tax negotiators to visit Buenos Aires in the near future.
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