In order to "detect tax evaders," Argentina's administration under President Alberto Fernández has inked a new deal with the US to exchange tax information, Economy Minister Sergio Massa declared on December 5.

During a ceremony at the Centro Cultural Kirchner, Massa and US Ambassador to Argentina Marc Stanley signed the agreement, which applies to both individual persons and business entities. 

"Access to this information is an act of fiscal justice because by detecting tax evaders we will be able to reduce the tax burden on all those who comply with their obligations every day while seeing others hiding their money in tax havens," declared Massa.

The minister emphasized that "we know the impact which the agreement will have next year but also for the next five or 10 years to come," assuring that he was pursuing fiscal transparency. 

He continued, highlighting the effects this will have not only for 2023 but also for the following five to ten years- with this agreement there starts a deeper and more mature chapter in the relationship between both countries.

This agreement would authorize the bilateral exchange of some information regarding financial accounts between the two nations while guaranteeing proper data protection, according to a communiqué released by the US Embassy.

The Embassy said that the agreement advances the common purpose of enhancing international tax conformity. The agreement, which calls for automated information exchanges on certain occasions, will take effect in the coming year. On September 30, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will transmit data, and then every September 30 after that.

Estimates from the Economy Ministry place the number of unreported assets held by Argentineans in American bank accounts at about $100 billion, out of a total of US$400 billion globally. The new data might mean a billion dollars every year for the Argentine taxman.

Massa revealed that he had been working on this deal since the first week he became a minister in an interview with Radio Con Vos prior to the ceremony. He recalled his first trip to Washington. 

"We firmly told the United States that they had to stop being a tax haven for evaders," he pointed out.

"Over the next nine months, the United States will be providing all the accounts of Argentine citizens, whether individual or corporate, as well as the sources of dividends," Massa explained.