MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Half the Argentine labor force make a monthly average of US$ 565, says Indec
Half the Argentine labor force employed was making at the end of the third quarter a monthly average of 9.000 Pesos, equivalent approximately to US$ 565, while the poorest 10% averaged 2.500 Pesos (approx US$ 165) and the richest 10%, anywhere from 20.000 to 250.000 Pesos (US$ 1.250 to 15.000) a month, according the revamped Argentine stats and census office, Indec. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesWhile the general picture is probably so, I know for a fact many of the poorer households have undeclared or “black” market incomes too. It is not a lot but probably you need to bump their earnings by 15-20%. And don't forget they don't pay for homes, hospitals, schools, etc.
Jan 07th, 2017 - 08:21 am - Link - Report abuse +2Fidelito, the article did acknowledge “non registered employment” which is a poorly translated expression for trabajo en negro.
Jan 07th, 2017 - 12:47 pm - Link - Report abuse +7Yes, the high tax rates on employment do indeed encourage off-the-books black-work, which is just one more tax-avoidance criminal activity subject to heavy sanctions. Black-work is by no means limited to “poorer households” since it's practiced by a lot of professionals as well, again as a tax-avoidance measure which is one of the principal national sports, after football and robbery. And let's not forget the 35% or so of the population that even the government recognises to be in poverty in spite of all that . But these conditions have been the case for many years and only newsworthy because the present INDEC is willing to confront them a bit more honestly than was the case of certain governments in the past, for whom the INDEC was a political propaganda tool.
Don't forget the national sport of protesting.
Jan 07th, 2017 - 12:54 pm - Link - Report abuse +6Working 'on the black' is as much a scam for the employer as the employee which is why is is embraced so enthusiastically. When I challenger a rather weather polo player/employer about it and suggested that if everyone payed their taxes the infrastructure, hospitals and schools would not be in such dire conditions, he quite rightly responded that under the K's nothing would improve but the overseas bank accounts of the K's. He had a point.
The extraordinarily high taxes on formal economic activity here in Argentina represent one significant reason there is no little willingness to increase the growth in formal employment.
Jan 07th, 2017 - 01:08 pm - Link - Report abuse +7The huge deficit in actual collection of taxes due to large-scale participation in criminal avoidance practices means that the greater revenue burden falls upon formal economic sector, which in turn tends to promote further avoidance. In Argentina, the socially acceptable practice of tax avoidance is closely linked to acceptance and participation in other forms of corruption and criminal behaviour. Certain revenue features here are essentially regressive, such as the 21% IVA (VAT), which disproportionately impacts lower income players.
Do you think they imported the Italian tax system/avoidance with the mass Italian immigration?
Jan 07th, 2017 - 02:00 pm - Link - Report abuse +2I was wondering why the IVA is so high. Is it because it's easier to enforce than income taxes?
Jan 07th, 2017 - 02:18 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Been happening for many years, most money is under the mattress. The Greeks have a similar system in not paying taxes and look at them.
Jan 07th, 2017 - 03:30 pm - Link - Report abuse +7@DT. “...why the IVA is so high...”
Jan 07th, 2017 - 05:32 pm - Link - Report abuse +4IVA is high because the government needs money any way they can get it, in order to pay for the huge overburden of debt and the massive array of often counterproductive bureaucracies and social programmes as well as large subsidies to money-losing state-run businesses. There are other high taxes that include income tax (up to 35%), employer-paid employment tax (up to 34.6%), employee-paid employment tax (17%), fuel taxes, energy taxes, “retentions” and on and on. What they get back in services is disproportionately quite small. About 35% of the employment in this country is criminal, off-the-books “black work.” Needless to say, Kirchnerismo's greatest level of support is found in this third of the population, which contributes the least to paying for the benefits it receives. The high level of taxation and government spending that was supposed to reduce poverty has had the opposite effect, by strangling incentives to create investment and employment. These are the conditions created by the previous decades of Peronism and have not been meaningfully addressed by the present government.
Macri declared Falklands' champion.
Jan 07th, 2017 - 10:13 pm - Link - Report abuse -8http://www.enorsai.com.ar/politica/20614-malvinas--la-politica-exterior-de-macri-entrega-nuestra-soberania.html
reekie, you posted that in another thread. And it was garbage there, as well.
Jan 08th, 2017 - 12:47 am - Link - Report abuse +4Temptation to compare Argentina with Australia or New Zealand when in reality it is more like Nigeria or Zimbabwe. The new Government certainly has its work cut out.
Jan 08th, 2017 - 09:18 am - Link - Report abuse +4Cheap distraction from Enrique.
Jan 08th, 2017 - 03:13 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Evita K helped create the situation and apart from missing out on the tax collection personally.
She would be quite happy to continue keeping the people under foot as low income scroungers, but placate them with free football and subsidised Internet for “turnips” in Patagonia, as “Think” claims to be.
More funny news about Argentina in the international media:
Jan 08th, 2017 - 09:24 pm - Link - Report abuse +4“Argentina to lift 15-year-old duty on oil exports: local daily”
This of course now that Argentina has no oil to export, and instead is importing oceans of it.
Oh, and the cost of production of oil in Argentina is so insanely high that the national oil industry is reducing its non-competitive participation. 10,000 oil workers in Neuquén alone expected to be laid off.
Kicillof's policies related to oil production in Argentina created the most expensive barrel of oil in the world. And as everybody knows, or at least as reekie believes, buyers are always looking for the highest-price stuff.
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!