Tax Fraud

Turns out your humble correspondent was recently a participant in a very small-scale tax fraud here in Buenos Aires. An unwitting correspondent -- I was out the door before I figured out why I had just gotten a 9-peso discount on a 99-peso backback.

I have seen in a couple places some stern announcements from the government saying that it's your responsibility to insist on a receipt when you purchase things in a store, and if you don't get a receipt then there could be a penalty, and so on. I didn't really understand what this was about, but filed it in the back of my head for future reference. Now I think I know what it's about.

Like many countries, Argentina has a big Value Added Tax, VAT. This is pretty much a sales tax, but it's charged at each step along the manufacturing and sales process (I think). The final tax is paid by the consumer, and it's probably something like 20% or so. Stores are responsible for collecting this tax. So I gather, the way that stores are check on this is via their register receipts. Ten thousand pesos worth of sales, they owe, say, two thousand pesos in VAT.

When I bought my backpack, first I told the women I didn't need a bag for the backpack. (Duh, I can just carry it out.) Then she offered to cut off the tag, and I said, sure. Then she said something really fast in spanish and said she'd give it to me for 90 pesos. And i was all for that, being a big cheapskate. She opened the register, gave me 10 pesos change on my 100, and said OK, thanks! in Spanish. Then as I'm walking out the door, wondering to myself why I just got a 10 percent discount, I realized I didn't get a receipt, and then, two steps later, I realized I had participated in tax fraud.

C'est la vie. When in Rome, etc., etc.