Argentina’s Fernandez Aims for Higher Tax Take From Individuals

(Bloomberg) -- Presidential candidate Alberto Fernandez suggested he would crack down on tax evasion by individuals if he wins the upcoming Argentine election and blamed the sitting president for favoring the wealthy.

In an interview with website Infobae, Fernandez said President Mauricio Macri has focused on ensuring companies pay taxes while ignoring increasing revenue from individuals.

“Companies pay taxes, not individual persons. They do not pay for their wealth. And that must be changed,” Fernandez said. “So what we have to do is focus on those taxpayers and ask them to help. Let them contribute. So that they pay like elsewhere in the world.”

Fernandez, who is favored to win an Oct. 27 vote, did not provide details on how he would seek to reduce tax evasion. “How do we do it? That is a subject of debate. But that it needs to be done is not a debate.”

He said that Argentina’s main fiscal problem was low collection rates due to weak economic growth.

Fernandez defeated Macri in an Aug. 11 primary vote by a wide margin, sparking a sell-off in Argentine bonds and the peso on concerns the country could default in the coming years. Fernandez has said that Argentina will need to increase exports and growth to be able to pay its debts.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael O'Boyle in Mexico City at moboyle7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brad Olesen at bolesen3@bloomberg.net, Virginia Van Natta, Linus Chua

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