Covid: Argentina passes tax on wealthy to pay for virus and economic measures
Argentina has passed a new tax on its wealthiest people to pay for medical supplies and relief measures amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Senators passed the one-off levy - dubbed the "millionaire's tax" - by 42 votes to 26 on Friday.
Those with assets worth more than 200 million pesos ($2.5m; £1.8m) - some 12,000 people (about 0.8% of taxpayers) - will have to pay pay a progressive rate of 2.25% to 3.5% on wealth in Argentina, and up to 5.25% on that outside the country.
Argentina has been hit hard by the pandemic, recording close to 1.5 million infections and almost 40,000 deaths from the coronavirus.
Lockdown measures enacted on March 19 - since loosened - have further dented an economy struggling with unemployment, high poverty levels and massive government debt.
Argentina has been in recession since 2018, when a carry-trade debt bubble known locally as the "financial bicycle" collapsed under former President Mauricio Macri.
AFP news agency reports that of the projected $3.5 billion raised, 20% will go to medical supplies, 20% to relief for small and medium-sized businesses, 20% to scholarships for students, 15% to social development, and the remaining 25% to natural gas ventures.
At: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-55199058
Argentine Vice President Cristina Kirchner (right) presides over today's virtual Senate session, in which a one-time wealth surtax was approved after its passage in the Lower House.
President Alberto Fernández, who's grappling with what he's referred to a "double pandemic" of the congoing Covid-19 crisis following a debt "Macrisis" inherited from his right-wing predecessor, supports the bill - projected to raise over $3.5 billion.
While Argentina's economy has been gradually recovering since May, GDP is still likely to fall nearly 10% this year.
Income poverty has meanwhile reached 44% - though relief measures, according to the Argentine Catholic University, prevented this rate from reaching 53%.
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