Horacio Larreta, the head of government of Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires, confirmed that the city will allow its citizens to pay certain taxes with cryptocurrencies. This is part of a digitization plan the city has named “Buenos Aires+” that seeks to simplify relationships with the city’s citizens.
Government of Buenos Aires to Launch Cryptocurrency Tax Payments
The government of Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, is planning to allow its citizens to pay certain taxes with cryptocurrencies. According to local media, the announcement was made by the head of the government of Buenos Aires Horacio Rodriguez Larreta on a recent Zoom call. The initiative is part of a digitization that the city plans to execute to widen citizens’ access to documents and government services.
According to Laretta, the plan, called “Buenos Aires+”, seeks to “simplify and streamline links with citizens and the city”. On the importance of blockchain to drive this digitization (which seeks to automate 70% of formalities during its first year of implementation), Diego Fernandez, Secretary of Innovation and Digital Transformation, said:
I believe that blockchain technology will give the government the possibility to make all its operations more transparent and deeply encourage citizens’ participation.
The proposal is similar to a proposal presented in March by the Rio de Janeiro government, which also announced that it would accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payment for certain types of taxes starting next year.
digital identity project
One of the major projects the city is looking to complete is the implementation of a digital ID system, which will help citizens to facilitate document requests and payments made to the city. The system also strives to be interoperable, meaning that multiple organizations of government can interact with it in different ways. This can obviously help in streamlining the time-consuming tasks between different government offices, giving citizens an opportunity to manage all their work in a single system.
Other public organizations can connect their systems to this hub, allowing them to access the data directly. On this thought, Fernandez said:
His information will be ruled by the people. We are developing a platform so that they know who is requesting their data and what they are seeing. Each of these orders will be done in an open blockchain-based system.
Fernandez concludes by stating his team aims to implement these data governance use cases for 2023.
What do you think about Buenos Aires accepting cryptocurrencies as payment for taxes? Tell us in the comments section below.
image credit: Shutterstock, Pixabay, WikiCommons
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation or recommendation or endorsement of an offer to buy or sell any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the Company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.