The Collection Agency of the Province of Buenos Aires (ARBA) detected
more than 120,000 square meters built
in the district of General Pueyrredón, which owners and developers had not declared and for the most part
paid the real estate tax as if they were vacant lots
.
The 120,000 square meters that were not registered with the provincial cadastre correspond to
57 high-rise buildings
, some with residential apartments, others with offices and garages, and
113 houses - with and without pools - belonging to gated communities
that have exclusive facilities.
Gaspar Spiritoso, deputy director of Territorial Actions and Services at ARBA, explained that "the in-person inspection work, which was carried out in countries and buildings located in select areas of Mar del Plata, allowed us to confirm evasion maneuvers that we had previously detected. , through satellite image controls".
The homes found in violation in countries
have a market value of between US$400,000 and US$800,000
, according to the Buenos Aires agency.
Among high-rise buildings, the most flagrant case of evasion is
a luxurious 14,000 square meter tower, which was still declared vacant
by the development company.
This property is part of an important residential complex located in front of the sea, which has apartments that are sold on the market for over US$335,000.
By incorporating the tower into the cadastre, the value of the real estate item will increase by $182 million, and developers will have to face
fines of up to $25 million
for not complying with the formal duties that correspond to taxpayers.
"This unregistered tower detected by ARBA is the third of that sophisticated complex located in the Playa Chica area. In all cases, the company in charge of the project only declared the construction of the buildings when it was notified by the agency, which clearly shows speculative behavior regarding the tax issue," Spiritoso stressed.
The Buenos Aires government official highlighted that "from ARBA we want developers to pay their taxes fairly and equitably, as the majority of taxpayers do."
"
These evasion maneuvers are inadmissible
, especially given the magnitude of the projects and the contributory capacity of the companies. Therefore,
we are going to apply all the corresponding fines
, whether in buildings or countries," he said.
ARBA will intensify controls to support state service funds
In relation to the inspections, the official anticipated that the pressure of the control operations will increase.
"Although at ARBA we no longer carry out summer operations as we did in other years,
we plan to intensify the usual controls that we carry out throughout the province
," said Spiritoso.
The objective, he assured, is to shore up the funds directed to state services in full adjustment in the national government.
"We seek to combat tax evasion and
recover resources that are essential to sustain the services provided by the Buenos Aires State
and finance social policies, especially at this time of difficulties caused by the adjustment of the national government," said the deputy director.
In addition to the specific cadastral controls, which are supported by satellite tools and in-person actions to detect undeclared constructions, ARBA foresees other specific inspections that aim to reduce evasion in sectors with greater taxable capacity.