Bye AFIP: will the new ARCA be an autonomous organization or will it depend on politics?

The point that is not clear in the statement released by the Office of the President is whether the agency will be autonomous or whether it will depend on the budget set by the Ministry of Economy. According to hierarchical employees consulted by Ámbito, if the latter happens, then it will become a direct dependency of the political power in power.

Precisely, when the creator of the AFIP, Carlos Silvani, proposed a Federal Administration for the union between the General Tax Directorate (DGI) and the General Customs Directorate (DGA), its intention was to give it a technical character. Although that principle was not always like this. The appointment of its head required agreement from Congress, but with each government the current administrator was changed.

Silvani was a tax expert summoned by the then super minister of Economy Domingo Cavallo. The official had the endorsement of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), at that time led by the Frenchman Michel Camdessus.

The DGI was so politicized until then that At that time the effects of the campaign that had been launched to hunt down evaders with the popular “little tank” were still echoing at that time. of war”, a holdover from the military dictatorship. During Raúl Alfonsín’s administration, no changes were made.

Hierarchy: for whom will it be eliminated?

Currently the AFIP It transfers 98% of the resources it collects to the National Treasury and keeps 2% to sustain its activity. Among this, there is what is called Hierarchization Account, which is a variable charge in the salaries of employees depending on what enters the organization.

That variable charge was used many times by AFIP administrators to agree on salary increases without breaking guidelines set for the rest of the employees of the national public administration.

According to agency employees, the text of the statement shows that The hierarchy will be eliminated only for the highest positions of what will be the ARCA and that will follow for those further down the scale.

The AFIP is an organization that On October 14, he turned 38, so he has a high component of older personnel. that he can now request retirement, and that therefore the natural leaves can cover the goals that spokesman Manuel Adorni said of reducing some 3,500 positions.

It is also proposed that the personnel who joined during the government of Alberto Fernández was not necessarily “militant”, rather, these are people who were irregularly under contract for longer than they should have, so they were entitled to a permanent position.

What they maintain among the staff is that If the Government maintains the same organizational structure that includes the DGI and the DGA, it would only be a name change, with fewer management personnel. The key point is whether that agency stops being autonomous. In that case, your dependence on the political power in power will be very marked. Of course, in recent years the structure created by Silvani to create a technical body was pierced more than once by politics.

In any case, the progress of Luis Caputo and the Secretary of the Treasury, Carlos Guberman, on tax collection structures will be more than important. In fact, the rank of the position that Florencia Misrahi still holds is equivalent to that of a Secretary of State. After that she will become a National Director, which is the fourth rung on the ladder below the Minister.

Support from the private sector

The Libertad y Progreso Foundation supported in a statement the recent decision of the National Government to “dissolve the General Administration of Public Revenue (AFIP) and create a new structure that aims to efficiently fulfill its collecting role.”

“As happened with other State structures, politicians tended to build an administration that served their purposes and not what the citizens needed; which justifies a total reorganization. In this way, excess charges and expenses will also be eliminated,” says the entity’s statement.

The economist Gabriel Caamano pointed out that “the DGI and DGA were already together within AFIP, which already depended on the Economy.” “That didn’t change. The changes are due to the reduction of benefitsreduction of salaries and hierarchical positions and reduction of staff. Savings of 0.1% GDP per year according to the statement,” he indicated.

“We hope that, in addition, this will begin a process of simplification and elimination of withholding and perception schemes, which is broader than the AFIP reform and means returning the cost of collecting taxes to the State. Which in recent decades has largely been transferred to the taxpayer,” Caamaño said.