Laundering: what data does the AFIP have about the accounts of Argentines in the US?

Sources from the collecting agency confirmed to Ámbito that the information is already in the possession of Argentine officials, to start performing the crossing with the data declared by local taxpayers in order to determine possible inconsistencies in the sworn statements.

The information comes at a time when money laundering is in full force and promises to be very successful based on what was expected at the beginning.

The agreement Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) gives Argentina access to certain types of information of accounts of Argentines in the northern country.

As highlighted by the tributary Sebastián Domínguez, The US sends certain information deposit accounts, to the extent that the account holder is a human person resident in Argentina and have been paid in that accounts for more than $10 in interest at any time of the year.

In cases where interest exceeds US$10, the United States sends the following information:

• Name and surname, address and CUIT of the Argentine resident who owns the deposit account.
• Deposit account number.
• Name and identification number of the Reporting US Financial Institution.
• The gross amount of interest paid on the Deposit Account.

It is considered “Deposit Account” to any commercial account, checking account, savings account, term account or savings account or other account documented by a certificate of depositsavings, investment, debt or other similar instrument, opened in a Financial Institution in the ordinary exercise of its banking or similar activity in the US.

Domínguez highlighted that “The information sent by the United States is from January 1, 2023 onwards”. “This, because the IGA 1 model agreement, was not retroactive to previous years. In the case of other countries, the United States has signed the exchange of information retroactively,” he indicated.

What the IRS does not report and what it reports

• The US does not report deposit account balances but only interest where applicable.
• The US does not report gross amounts of interest paid if the account is owned by other types of entities residing in Argentina that are not human persons such as corporations, limited liability companies, trusts, foundations, etc.
• The US does not report information on a savings account opened at Citibank owned by a corporation resident in Argentina in which US$20 in interest was collected during the year.
• The US does report information on a savings account opened at Citibank owned by a human person residing in Argentina in which US$11 in interest was charged during the year.
• The US does not report information on a checking account opened at Citibank owned by a human person residing in Argentina in which no interest was charged during the year.

For financial accounts, which are not deposit accounts, the IRS reports:

• Name and surname, company name or denomination, address and CUIT of the Argentine resident who owns the financial account.
• Financial account number.
• Name and identification number of the reporting US financial institution.
• The gross amount of US source dividends paid in the year in the account.
• The gross amount of other United States source income paid or credited to the account, to the extent subject to reporting under Chapter 3 of Subtitle A or Chapter 61 of Subtitle F of the United States Internal Revenue Code.

In this case, the US government does not report data on final beneficiaries of companies resident in Argentina that are holders of financial accounts about which it reports certain information. And it also only provides data on investment returns from US sources whose return exceeds $10.

Until Now Argentina had an exchange agreement upon request, which obliged the AFIP to send the precise request for the account and account holder. In the same way, the AFIP now transmits account information of United States citizens in Argentina.